Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Support for Bush's Iraq policy dives after Katrina (Reuters)

Bella sgrullata per il Partito Repubblicano. Giorgino rischia di 
diventare un appestato.
Am.
Support for Bush's Iraq policy dives after Katrina
By Alan Elsner  Wed Sep 21,12:58 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. public support for President George W. 
Bush's Iraq policy has nosedived in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, 
but this seems unlikely to force the administration to change tack, 
political analysts said on Wednesday.
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"Katrina has changed many things but I don't think it will change Iraq 
policy. There is almost no elasticity in that policy," said Danielle 
Pletka of the conservative American Enterprise Institute, an 
acknowledged supporter both of Bush and his Iraq policy.
Political scientist Cal Jillson of Southern Methodist University 
agreed. "There's no way back for Bush on Iraq. He can't run away from 
that policy. He has to secure something he can plausibly point to as 
success."
Public support for the president on Iraq had been gradually eroding in 
the past year as the U.S. military death toll mounted toward 2,000 and 
little progress was made in stopping a bloody insurgency that began 
soon after the 2003 invasion.
But backing for his policy, that U.S. troops would stay until Iraqis 
can establish a government and army that can govern and defend itself, 
has dropped dramatically since Katrina devastated Louisiana and 
Mississippi.
A Gallup poll published on Monday found 66 percent of respondents 
favored the immediate withdrawal of some or all of the U.S. troops in 
Iraq, a 10 percentage point jump in two weeks.
Bush's personal approval on Iraq fell from 40 percent to 32 percent in 
the same period. In a CBS/New York Times poll the previous week, 75 
percent said Bush had no clear plan for bringing U.S. troops home.
Republicans in Congress, who know they face difficult mid-term 
elections in November 2006, are becoming increasingly concerned about 
their prospects.
"The mood up here among Republicans is very very sour," said one senior 
staffer who did not want to be named.
For many Americans, the connection between Katrina and Iraq comes down 
to one word -- money.
"Americans want to attend to the needs of people at home before we take 
care of people overseas," said Steven Wayne, a political scientist at 
Georgetown University. "But this president rarely if ever goes back on 
his own decisions and his legacy is largely connected to Iraq."
NEW CONTEXT
Said Jillson, "People know we're running huge deficits and they know 
the costs have just rocketed upward. Many Americans are now looking at 
the Iraq situation in that context."
Congress has already approved $62.3 billion for recovery and 
reconstruction after Katrina and the eventual cost could reach $200 
billion or more.
The Iraq war and occupation have cost over $200 billion so far. The 
United States is spending $5.6 billion a month there, or almost $186 
million a day.
Some Republicans, like Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel (news, bio, voting 
record), had been arguing even before the hurricane hit that the 
current Iraq policy was unsustainable.
"We are seen as occupiers, we are targets. We have got to get out. I 
don't think we can sustain our current policy, nor do I think we 
should," he said in an interview last month.
More and more Republicans may break with the president in coming months 
if U.S. casualties continue to mount in Iraq and the country seems no 
nearer to stability.
But the party as a whole had little choice other than to stick with 
Bush, said political scientist David Birdsell of Baruch College in New 
York City.
"They don't have anywhere to go. If they should go in a different 
direction, then which direction?" he said.
Democrats, who up to now have been reluctant to criticize the Iraq 
policy for fear of seeming unpatriotic, may also feel more able to do 
so.
"So far, the Democrats have been cowardly and unwilling to speak out. 
They need to do so if they want to reap the political benefits of 
Bush's unpopularity," said Phyllis Bennis of the Institute for Policy 
Studies, a liberal think-tank which opposed the Iraq invasion and 
occupation.

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Fin qui pensavo si parlasse di La Malfa. Rotfl.
Tb
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