Four years on, war costs Bush at home and abroad

Reuters ^ | Mar 19, 2007 | N/A

[Freeport]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Four years after he began the Iraq war, a diminished President George W. Bush has sacrificed much of his domestic agenda and eroded U.S. credibility abroad in pursuit of the sort of nation-building he once scorned, analysts say.

The president's job approval ratings have fallen from 90 percent shortly after the September 11 attacks to just over 30 percent.

He forfeited the dream of cementing Republican control over Congress and his administration is increasingly under fire from Democrats and Republicans alike.

"There is simply no question in my mind that the Iraq war has substantially undercut Bush's ability to get other things done domestically or internationally," said Richard Eichenberg, a professor at Tufts University who has studied Bush's approval ratings.

"When he was re-elected in the fall of 2004 he interpreted the election ... by saying that 'I have political capital. I'm going to spend it.' But the fact of the matter is he's spent it all on Iraq and he's got precious little left," Eichenberg said.

After the Iraq invasion, Bush's approval ratings became linked to casualty figures and less tied to traditional factors like the economy, Eichenberg and Richard Stoll of Rice University found in researching the president's poll numbers.

"It resembles in a lot of ways what happened with President (Lyndon) Johnson in Vietnam," Stoll said. The war "sort of looms so large that it pushes almost everything else off the agenda."

[Freeport]

This is what I wrote as a comment back to the Reuters Editorial Staff:

"This comment is in regards to the article "Four years on, war costs Bush at home and abroad".

Why is it that your reporters who covered this event also didn't cover the demonstration, carried on at the same time, in support of the war?

Seeing as I'm a person who likes to be informed about both sides of an argument, so I can make up my own mind, parish the thought, I'd like your reasoning.

Thank you,"

[Name Removed]

We'll see if I get a responce... Not holding my breath.

[b4its2late]

Reuters hit piece..........

[SMARTY]

"Four years on, war costs Bush at home and abroad"

Yea... but look what it cost Saddam and Al Qiada!

[alloysteel]

For sure, Bush stands NO chance of being re-elected in 2008.

But apparently, neither does anybody else.

[TheDon]

Thank God for President Bush, and the Americans smart enough to put him in office for two terms!

[Jeff Chandler]

"There is simply no question in my mind that the Iraq war has substantially undercut Bush's ability to get other things done domestically or internationally,"

No, it is the press miscoverage and the Democrat sedition, all unanswered by the Bush Administration and the Republican Party, which have undercut everything.

[nepppen]

Four years of the war and Kurds don't worry about their friends and families being gassed. Four years of the war and Iraqi babies will not have to know what living under a murderous tyrant's dictatorship is like.

Interesting statistics:

American population 2006 ...........301,300,685

American births 2006 .......................4,115,590

American deaths 2006 ......................2,398,343

deaths related to accidents 2006 ..........108,694

U.S. deaths in Iraq 2006 ..............................821

Iraq non combat deaths 2006 ......................124

[rfp1234]

"al-Reuters" (aka Hemorrheuters) stories are best ignored. There aren't enough hours in a day to dwell on this BS.

[marvlus]

I would like to see number of murders in U.S. in 2006. I'm sure they are significantly higher than military deaths in Iraq.

[showme_the_Glory]

Thank God for President Bush, and the Americans smart enough to put him in office for two terms!

There are only a few candidates even remotely close to this fine man of strong principles. The ones currently leading in the polls are not and never could be close. I pray that the work President Bush started won't get forgotten by some lib Dem or even worse some lib RINO.