home > by publication type > interviews > Lindsay: Bush Seeks to ‘Reach Out’ to Bolster Support on Iraq
Email
| Interviewee: | James A. Lindsay, Director, Robert S. Strauss Center, University of Texas |
|---|---|
| Interviewer: | Bernard Gwertzman, Consulting Editor |
May 22, 2007
James M. Lindsay, a former CFR director of studies, says President Bush is so politically weakened by Iraq that he has begun to “reach out” to others to broaden his base of support. He says the days when the administration could act unilaterally are over, “and the administration is being forced by necessity, not by choice, to try to find areas where it can work with other people.” Lindsay says “now that the political bleeding of the president has continued, the White House has been forced to make concessions on a number of different issues.”
President Bush has about twenty months left in office, and he’s struggling with Congress on what to do about Iraq. It’s a very complicated issue. The Washington Post says Bush seems to be now leaning toward accepting some of the recommendations in the Iraq Study Group report the White House dismissed last year. Where do you think he can go in these last months?
President Bush has been gravely weakened by the course of events in Iraq. It has come to dominate the day-to-day agenda; it has cost him political support. It has put him in a position in which much of his administration’s effort is going toward fighting off or holding off Democratic criticisms, and that is likely to be the overarching motif of his remaining time in office. That’s not to say the president’s powerless. The office of the presidency comes with a tremendous ability to set the agenda and take initiatives, particularly in the area of foreign affairs.
I notice he has the NATO secretary general out at his ranch in Texas today. He seems to be seeking support from everywhere right now. Do you see a kind of conversion by Bush in his last months?
Because the president is politically weakened, he has to reach out to more people and more quarters to find allies. And if you were to go back four years, in the aftermath of what was perceived at the time to be a great success in Iraq, the administration set the agenda and pushed other people out of the way. Those days are now over, and the administration is being forced by necessity, not by choice, to try to find areas where it can work with other people. We’ve seen that change initially in the rhetoric at the start of the second term, a kinder gentler version of itself. But now that the political bleeding of the president has continued, the White House has been forced to make concessions on a number of different issues. And he’s likely to remain in that position over the last twenty months.
Coming back to the Iraq Study Group, which put great emphasis on multifaceted diplomacy with Iran and with Syria, working to solve the Israeli-Palestinian issues, and looking toward setting good-governance benchmarks for the Iraqis. The Post said Bush seems now to be adopting some of these recommendations. Is this part of seeking out more support?
Part of it is a matter of perspective. The president went in a very different direction on Iraq than the Iraq Study Group recommended. The administration pushed for the “surge,” which was not what the Baker-Hamilton group recommended. We’re likely to have the surge go forward, but it’s been made pretty clear to the White House by Congressional Republicans that support on Capitol Hill for the surge from Republicans is frail, and likely to erode rapidly if we don’t see a major change in the security situation in Iraq by early fall. That warning from Congressional Republican leaders has a way of concentrating the administration’s attention on the issue, forcing the administration to try to find areas in which it can be seen as being responsive to criticism, and as being open to change. It is trying to find a new strategy. But whether troop levels are going up or down, the administration is still on the unpopular side of the debate, in favor of the “surge.”
Weigh in on this issue by emailing CFR.org.
To order Task Force reports, Council Special Reports, and Critical Policy Choices, please call, fax, or order online from our distributor, the Brookings Institution Press: phone +1.800.537.5487, fax +1.410.516.6998.
For information on other reports that are not for sale, or for general publications information, please call +1.212.434.9516 or email publications@cfr.org.
Start-Up Nation addresses the trillion-dollar question: How is it that Israel—a country of 7.1 million, only sixty years old, surrounded by enemies— produces more start-up companies than large, peaceful, and stable nations like Japan, China, India, Korea, Canada, and the UK? With the insights of geopolitical experts and investors, the authors examine this nation’s adversity-driven culture to answer this question and offer prescriptions for a global economy on the rebound.
In Forces of Fortune, Vali Nasr presents a paradigm-changing revelation that will transform the understanding of the Muslim world at large. He reveals that there is a vital but unseen rising force in the Islamic world—a new business-minded middle class—that is building a vibrant new Muslim world economy and that holds the key to winning the cold war against Iran and extremists.
In Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know, Julia E. Sweig presents a remarkably accessible portrait of Cuba's unique place on the world stage over the past fifty years, including its internal politics, its often fraught relationship with the United States, and its shifting relationship with the global community.
Complete list of CFR Books
The report of this bipartisan Task Force of distinguished leaders and experts represents a strong consensus on the importance of repairing America's immigration policy. It makes the case that maintaining America's political and economic leadership depends on attracting talented and hard-working immigrants, and on securing the country's borders in a smart, effective, and humane way.
This report finds that nuclear weapons will remain a fundamental element of U.S. national security in the near term, and makes recommendations on how to ensure the safety, security, and reliability of the U.S. deterrent nuclear force, prevent nuclear terrorism, and strengthen the nuclear nonproliferation regime.
About Independent Task Forces at CFR
Complete list of Task Force reports
Identifying international threats and acting on them may be the most difficult job for U.S. policymakers. This report
provides an actionable road map for managing international threats before they erupt into crises and makes a strong case that preventive action is not a luxury but a necessity.
For more than a decade, the United States has mostly watched from the sidelines as Asian countries organize themselves into an alphabet soup of new multilateral groups. In this report, the authors review the relationship between pan-Asian and trans-Pacific institutions and suggest policy guidelines for a new U.S. approach to this new Asian landscape.
Complete list of Council Special Reports
To request permission to reprint or reuse CFR material, please fill out this permissions request form (PDF), referring to the instructions on page 1.
Copyright 2009 by the Council on Foreign Relations. All Rights Reserved.