|
|
For 10 minutes, the caption across
the bottom of Scarborough's show read, "Is Bush an
'Idiot'?"
|
CAIRO — American conservative talk-show hosts,
columnists and pundits are increasing losing faith in President George
W. Bush's leadership, mainly because of his false promises in Iraq, on
which he has long enjoyed their strongest support, The Washington
Post reported on Sunday, August 20.
"A lot of conservatives are saying, 'Enough's
enough,' " Joe Scarborough, a former Republican congressman and
now a MSNBC political pundit, told the daily.
He said a recent segment of his popular Scarborough
Country show was dedicated entirely to Bush's performance after he
kept hearing fellow Republicans questioning the president's capacity
and leadership, undermined by the Iraq war.
Like others, Scarborough said, he supported the war
but now thinks it is time to find a way to get out.
At his show, the former congressman wondered
whether "Bush's mental weakness is damaging America's credibility
at home and abroad."
And for 10 minutes, the caption across at the
bottom of the television screen read, "Is Bush an Idiot?"
Scarborough further showed a montage of clips of
Bush's famously inarticulate verbal miscues and then explored whether
Bush is smart enough to be president.
A cohort of American experts told The New York
Times on Sunday, August 6, that the Bush administration's Iraq
strategy has failed and needs to be changed.
Some 2,591 US troops have been killed in Iraq since
its invasion-turned-occupation in March 2003.
The Washington Post reported on Thursday,
July 17, that many American soldiers were growing increasingly
disillusioned about the Iraq war and their ability to succeed against
an elusive enemy.
Disappointed
|
|
"It is time for the Bush
administration to acknowledge that its approach of assuring people
that progress is being made and operating on that optimistic basis
in Iraq isn't working," said Lowry.
|
Rich Lowry, editor of the National Review,
is bitterly disappointed in Bush, especially after the Iraq war set to
become "Bush's Vietnam."
"There's more of a sense now that things are
on a downward trajectory, and more of a willingness to acknowledge it
and pressure the administration to react to it," he told the Post.
Lowry's magazine offers a powerful example on his
disillusionment.
"It is time to say it unequivocally: We are
winning in Iraq," he wrote in April 2005.
This month, he published an editorial concluding
that "success in Iraq seems more out of reach than it has at any
time since the initial invasion three years ago" and assailing
the administration's on-again-off-again approach to Iraq.
"It is time for the Bush administration to
acknowledge that its approach of assuring people that progress is
being made and operating on that optimistic basis in Iraq isn't
working," the editorial said.
Quin Hillyer, executive editor of the American
Spectator, agreed that many are upset "because we seem not to
be winning."
William F. Buckley Jr., the founder of the National
Review, caused a stir earlier this year when he wrote that the
Iraq mission "has failed".
Thomas L. Friedman, a New York Times columnist
who is not a conservative but has strongly backed the Iraq war, wrote
this month that "'staying the course' is pointless, and it's time
to start thinking about Plan B -- how we might disengage with the
least damage possible."
Bush's popularity was not given a boost even after
the dramatic announcement that British authorities foiled an alleged
plot to bomb planes flying to the US, according to a new poll.
The Pew Research Center poll found that 37 percent
of Americans approved of Bush's overall performance, virtually
unchanged from a July survey.
Fifty percent approved of Bush's handling of terror
threats, compared to 47 percent in June.
The poll was largely conducted after the alleged
airline bombing plot was revealed on August 10.
