Bush frames battle of 21st century

Surveys show that Americans' support for the war is down from levels of past years, but that it has remained relatively stable over the past nine months despite rising violence in Iraq and growing debate over what Al Qaeda is trying to accomplish there.

A mid-September Gallup Poll showed 53 percent of Americans saying Iraq is not worth going to war over, compared with 45 percent who said it is. Those numbers have remained relatively stable this year.

But others see Bush reaching beyond US public opinion in an attempt to frame for the world how this new ideological battle compares with the previous century's fight with communism and totalitarianism.

"This was also a speech about America seeking a partnership with like-minded powers and peoples in the world against a common threat," says Mr. Cordesman. "In that sense, he gave about as good a speech as any American president can about a different culture and a different religion, and the threats within that."

Elements of the speech are sure to cause controversy, Cordesman says. He cites Bush's contention that "our actions," including Iraq, are not a cause of terrorism. "Virtually all experts in international terrorism would argue with that," he says. "Every survey out there shows that Iraq is a source of anger in Arab and Muslim countries that is catalyzing some in the population and prompting them to take action, such as going to Iraq to take part in the battle."

Bush said US and Western intelligence operations had foiled 10 Al Qaeda operations - three of them in the US - and five "casing operations" in the US.

Some experts doubt whether such new information will help build support for Iraq and the broader war on terror.

"I don't think scaring ... the American people will work for him," says independent pollster John Zogby. "The only things that can possibly work for him on Iraq are, No. 1, finding Osama bin Laden or, No. 2, finding those weapons of mass destruction."

Others say that after the national focus on hurricane Katrina and the success the US has had at preventing more attacks here since 9/11, Bush wanted to remind Americans of why the war on terrorism must not slip from the front pages.

Because Bush insists on calling this a "war," and not simply the "struggle" that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and others have said it is, the public's main question may be whether the US is winning or losing. With his speech, Bush is seen as trying to answer that question.

"The real issue is not what [the terrorists] are trying to do - we've known that for years," says Georgetown's Mr. Wayne. "The real issue is, are we winning or losing? We haven't had [another] terrorist attack here; the world's been pretty calm." In that context, he adds, the war on terror and the generational battle for freedom it represents "is the only ace in the hole he has."

Page: 1 | 2