All of the media attention was focused on Bush’s address to the nation where he continued to justify the occupation of Iraq. But as Guardian writer Alan Wolfe points out, Bush’s address the next day to soldiers at Fort Benning is just as significant because of the way in which he blames the American people for the occupation turning into the quagmire that it has.
In his speech, Bush unveiled a Neoplatonic worldview in which the soldiers are seen as the guardians of liberty while the American people are too stupid to know what is going on:
“You know, I knew that right after the attacks, the American psyche being what it is, people would tend to forget the grave threat posed by these people. I knew that. As a matter of fact, I was hoping that would happen so that life would go on. But the fortunate thing for this country is that those who wear the uniform have never forgotten the threat. You understand the stakes.”
In other words, go to sleep. No need to worry. George Bush is watching you. Wolfe has this to say:
Here, in a nutshell, is the United States as George W Bush perceives it. No one I know has forgotten September 11; the horror of that day lives on in nightmares, agonizing thoughts of friends lost, horror at the evil of international terrorism, tears at the lives ripped apart. But to the president of the United States, the people he leads are too preoccupied with their personal lives, too frivolous in their daily pursuits, too ignorant of the Satanic forces unleashed in the world, to realize the dangers facing them. They need a strong leader, one who, unlike them, never forgets but spends night and day protecting them against their own ignorance.
Not only are the American people frivolous, the president believes, but he is glad that they are. He was hoping they would forget so that he could remember for them. Some leaders wish the people they lead will to be strong and resolute. Mr Bush wants them weak and complacent. That way, his strength can compensate for their weakness.
There is another angle that has to be looked at as well — the fundmentalist angle. Most fundamentalists are constantly schooled to always obey authority — “Render unto Caesar.” “Do not add or take away from the Bible, or the plagues therein will be added.” Therefore, it is not a difficult stretch at all for such people who hang on every literal word out of the Bible to blindly defer to George Bush.
This is the acid test to see if people automatically defer to authority and are subservient, or they question everything and think critically. People who do the former are still likely to believe in George Bush as the greatest man to arise since the Bible was completed. People who are doing the latter are likely to at least have a lot of questions about what went wrong.
And Bush understands this mentality perfectly. He has always claimed that he was on a mission from God to get rid of Saddam. The implication is clear — Bush sincerely believes that he has a personal hotline to God and that he is only answerable to him along — and that we are simply pond scum in the grand scheme of things.
Bush is now engaging in a game of diplomatic chicken with Iran, whom he views as part of the Axis of Evil in his conspiratorial worldview. His continuing occupation of Iraq, his sending of ships to the Persian Gulf, and his rounding up of people he believes to be Iranian agents are prime examples of this.
The whole point of this is first of all to pander to the Left Behind crowd. Obviously, they are hanging on every blow by blow account of this conflict and trying to reconcile these events with Armageddon. In their twisted worldview, the bigger the conflict becomes, the more likely Armageddon is likely to happen.
The second reason is that Bush wants war with Iran — but he wants them to do something stupid so that he can claim the political cover he needs to attack them.
The third reason is because of the way he views his critics. He is well aware of the rising tide of opposition to his failed policies in Iraq. He thinks that he is above such criticism, given that he sincerely believes he has a hotline to God. Therefore, I suggest that his game of chicken with Iran is his way of giving his critics the Middle Finger and doing these provocations just because they want him to do the opposite.
Bush knows quite well that he does not have the manpower to sustain an invasion of Iran, let alone occupy it. Therefore, I suggest that it is more likely that he would use nuclear blackmail or even use nuclear weapons on Iran’s nuclear facility than he would a conventional invasion.
Bush has repeatedly campaigned on the promise to do the right thing even though it was not very popular. This, translated, is his way of flipping off the American Public. I’m the Decider. I can do whatever I want. I’m going to keep Rummy just because my pop wants him gone asap. I’m gunna play chicken with Iran just because all these Democrats and peace activists and my father don’t want me to. Catch the drift?