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Bush says U.S. will not retreat from the
world
1.2.2006
By Andrew Tully
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WASHINGTON, 1
February 2006 (RFE/RL) -- U.S. President George W.
Bush has said he will not back down from his
aggressive foreign policy, which has contributed
greatly to his recent low approval ratings among the
American public.
In the president's annual State of the Union address
to a joint session of Congress on 31 January, he
said that to back down now would amount to
isolationism.
Bush said that during his final three years as
president, he will continue the war on international
terrorism, continue his course in the Iraq war, and
continue his efforts to spread democracy in the
world.
"Our enemies and our friends can be certain: the
United States will not retreat from the world, and
we will never surrender to evil." |
U.S. President George W. Bush
Photo: White House |
'False Comfort Of Isolationism'
Bush said he rejects what he called "the false
comfort of isolationism."
This foreign policy -- combined with his
administration's poor response to Hurricane Katrina
five months ago -- made 2005 a bad year for Bush.
Major polls have put his approval ratings around 40
percent for the past two months.
In addition, Bush's year-old effort to spread
democracy around the world -- especially in the
Middle East -- has led to some results unwanted in
Washington. Last week, Hamas, which espouses the
destruction of Israel, won a landslide majority in
the Palestinian parliament.
Bush said last night, as he has said before, that
his administration won't deal with Hamas until it
recognizes Israel's right to exist.
Modest Proposals
If Bush is retreating at all, it is from grand new
plans. All the initiatives he announced in the
speech were modest and were mostly domestic. They
included studies on the federal retirement and
medical-aid systems, greater emphasis on science and
mathematics in the nation's schools, and more
research on alternate energy sources.
On energy, Bush said it's time for America to reduce
its dependence on imported oil to maintain its
competitiveness in the world economy.
"Keeping America competitive requires affordable
energy, and here we have a serious problem: America
is addicted to oil, which is often imported from
unstable parts of the world," Bush said. "The best
way to break this addiction is through technology."
The Search For Renewable Energy Sources
Bush urged new and broader research into alternate
sources of energy, including ethanol, an
alcohol-based substitute to gasoline. He said his
goal is to make ethanol so practical that the
country could cut its Middle East oil imports 75
percent by 2025.
One of those so-called "unstable" sources of oil is
Iran, which Bush once called part of the "axis of
evil," along with Iraq and North Korea. Iran now
appears certain to face being reported to the UN
Security Council for resuming nuclear research,
which the United States and Europe fear is aimed at
developing nuclear weapons.
Speaking Directly To The Iranian People
Bush said Iran must not be permitted to have such an
arsenal. Yet he stressed that his argument is only
with the government in Tehran, not with the Iranian
people.
"Tonight, let me speak directly to the citizens of
Iran," Bush said. "America respects you, and we
respect your country. We respect your right to
choose your own future and win your own freedom. And
our nation hopes one day to be the closest of
friends with a free and democratic Iran."
Bush also did not deviate from his longstanding
theme of being resolute in the war against
international terrorism, whether against the
remnants of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the
insurgents in Iraq, or Al-Qaeda elsewhere.
"We remain on the offensive against terror
networks," he said. "We have killed or captured many
of their leaders -- and for the others, their day
will come. We remain on the offensive in Afghanistan
-- where a fine president [Hamid Karzai] and
national assembly are fighting terror while building
the institutions of a new democracy. And we are on
the offensive in Iraq, with a clear plan for
victory."
Bad Poll Numbers
Iraq aside, security against terror is an issue that
Bush likes to associate with himself and fellow
members of the Republican Party, according to Robert
Spitzer, a professor of political science at the
State University of New York at Cortland.
Spitzer cites polls that give high marks to Bush and
the Republicans on overall security issues, even
though a majority of Americans now disapprove of his
handling of the Iraq war. He says this is important
because one-third of the seats in the U.S. Senate
and all 435 seats in the House of Representatives
will be contested in the elections this November.
Republicans now hold a slim majority in each house.
But historically, a president's party tends to do
poorly in congressional elections during years in
which the president himself is not running for
re-election.
By promoting his and his party's efforts against
terrorism, Spitzer says, Bush hopes to maintain and
even improve the Republicans' edge in Congress.
"Foreign policy and the country's concern about
national security was really the linchpin issue in
his reelection, and it's probably the Republicans'
best hope for holding on to Congress in 2006,"
Spitzer says. "That is, if Americans are concerned
about security, if they feel that Bush and the
Republicans are still doing a good job protecting
the country, fighting terrorism, then that will help
the Republicans in the elections this fall."
Some observers had expected Bush not to dwell on
foreign policy, given his low approval ratings on
Iraq and the unexpected victory for Hamas in the
Palestinian elections.
But Spitzer says it would be unlike Bush not to
mention foreign policy because that would amount to
admitting failure.
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