Bush fails to regain lost public support for Iraq war

The World Today - Thursday, 30 June , 2005 12:26:00
Reporter: Leigh Sales

ELEANOR HALL: Overseas now, and in the United States early reports suggest the President's nationally televised speech on Iraq has failed to galvanise public support for the war.With opinion polls showing two thirds of Americans disapprove of the his Iraq policy, President George W. Bush yesterday attempted to link the war in Iraq with the wider war on terrorism, and called for patience in the conflict which has so far claimed 1,700 American lives.

But reaction to the speech, even from those within his own party, has been mixed and the pressure is now intensifying on the Bush administration to set out a clear exit strategy.

This report from North America Correspondent Leigh Sales.LEIGH SALES: The President is under a great deal of pressure on Iraq, with polls showing almost 60 per cent of Americans disapprove of how he's handling the situation.

Last night's speech was aimed at reassuring the nation the war is necessary.

GEORGE BUSH: We fight today, because terrorists want to attack our country and kill our citizens, and Iraq is where they are making their stand.

So we'll fight them there, we'll fight them across the world, and we will stay in the fight until the fight is won.

LEIGH SALES: But did the President go anywhere towards turning around the gloomy public sentiment?19-year-old Danielle Powell lost her husband in Iraq just last week and wasn't convinced by President Bush's speech.

DANIELLE POWELL: What is the plan? He keeps saying, you know, we have to stay until the job is done. I just don't see his plan for getting the job done.

LEIGH SALES: Even some Republicans are finding it hard to fully support their President on this matter.

Mike and Carol Kasparian watched the speech on their television set last night. They voted for George W. Bush in the past two elections, but feel uneasy about how the war in Iraq has unfolded

.MIKE KASPARIAN: If we were given some sort of concrete evidence that things are going in the right direction, rather than just seeing the nightly car bombs and the destruction and the death toll, that might go a long way.

LEIGH SALES: Wife, Carol is kinder.

CAROL KASPARIAN: I mean, he sort of didn't give me a timetable, which I wanted here, but I understand why, so I think he did really well. I'm happy with his performance.

LEIGH SALES: Democrat members of Congress say the speech fell short of what Americans wanted to hear.

Nancy Pelosi is the party's leader in the House of Representatives.

NANCY PELOSI: What we were looking for last night was really the President to take the initiative for a strategy for success, with specific plans for how and what the milestones were that we had to achieve before our troops could come home safely, and hopefully soon.

He didn't do that.

LEIGH SALES: Republican members of Congress were more generous in their assessment of the President's speech, even those who have grave misgivings about how the war is being managed, like Senator John McCain.

JOHN MCCAIN: I think it was an important speech, and I think the President did an outstanding job of laying out the situation as it exists.

I think we need some success on the ground. I think that this training and equipping of the Iraqi military, as he pointed out, is the key to success, has got to show some benefits.

We've made a lot of mistakes in this conflict, and mistakes happen in wars, that's why we try to avoid them, but overall I think the President made an excellent speech, I think he needed to make the speech, and I'm glad that about 58 per cent of the American people – according to a poll yesterday – are not ready to leave Iraq.

ELEANOR HALL: US Republican Senator John McCain ending that report from Leigh Sales.

http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2005/s1404060.htm