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Madison avenue finds Bush hard to sell: The Deccan Herald
Washington, Feb 25: A country that invented Madison Avenue is finding that Bush is hard to sell to the global consumers who eagerly swallow American films, music and fast food. This despite the induction of an advertising world legend who was recruited early by the Bush administration as a senior official in the State Department. She may be wondering why foreign policy is not like soap.
Washington, Feb 25: A country that invented Madison Avenue is finding that Bush is hard to sell to the global consumers who eagerly swallow American films, music and fast food. This despite the induction of an advertising world legend who was recruited early by the Bush administration as a senior official in the State Department. She may be wondering why foreign policy is not like soap.
That Mr Bush is not selling is not just an impression gathered from the street marches but a fact conveyed in the classified cables received from American embassies in different parts of the world. A Washington Post report calls this message “urgent and disturbing”. “The signal is that many people in the world increasingly think that President Bush is a greater threat to world peace than Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.”
A senior US official told the daily that there was no recognition that Saddam Hussein is the problem. And this despite the fact that the administration has gone to unprecedented lengths to explain the threat, even to the point of the Secretary of State going before the UN Security Council and delivering classified information for the whole world to see. Mr Joseph Cirincione of the Carnegie Endowment told the daily that world opinion shifted dramatically against Mr Bush when he signalled that he was not committed to supporting continuing inspections. “It now appears to be an elaborate con job. Other leaders feel manipulated and deceived.”
A State Department official said that the debate overseas has not been about Iraq. “There is real angst in the world about our power, and what they perceive as the rawness, the arrogance, the unipolarity” of the administration’s actions. He also said what has been confirmed by Mr Bush’s own statements after the anti-war protests, that cables from American overseas posts appeared to have little impact on White House decision-making. Mr Bush last week shrugged off the anti-war protests. “History has proven that the closer you are to potential hostilities, the more vocal the opposition,” he said. The role of leader, he said, was to decide policy based upon security of the people.
However, the public protests did have an impact on the European leaders who have been opposing a war. These strengthened their resistance to American moves. Even America’s closest pro-war ally, Tony Blair of Britain, became desperate about first trying for a UN mandate for a war.
The Bush administration will intensify its efforts to highlight “the plight of the Iraqi people and Saddam’s brutality” in a bid to shift public opinion in favour of a war on Iraq. Briefings of America’s planned humanitarian assistance to Iraq have also been scheduled.
A senior US official told the daily that there was no recognition that Saddam Hussein is the problem. And this despite the fact that the administration has gone to unprecedented lengths to explain the threat, even to the point of the Secretary of State going before the UN Security Council and delivering classified information for the whole world to see. Mr Joseph Cirincione of the Carnegie Endowment told the daily that world opinion shifted dramatically against Mr Bush when he signalled that he was not committed to supporting continuing inspections. “It now appears to be an elaborate con job. Other leaders feel manipulated and deceived.”
A State Department official said that the debate overseas has not been about Iraq. “There is real angst in the world about our power, and what they perceive as the rawness, the arrogance, the unipolarity” of the administration’s actions. He also said what has been confirmed by Mr Bush’s own statements after the anti-war protests, that cables from American overseas posts appeared to have little impact on White House decision-making. Mr Bush last week shrugged off the anti-war protests. “History has proven that the closer you are to potential hostilities, the more vocal the opposition,” he said. The role of leader, he said, was to decide policy based upon security of the people.
However, the public protests did have an impact on the European leaders who have been opposing a war. These strengthened their resistance to American moves. Even America’s closest pro-war ally, Tony Blair of Britain, became desperate about first trying for a UN mandate for a war.
The Bush administration will intensify its efforts to highlight “the plight of the Iraqi people and Saddam’s brutality” in a bid to shift public opinion in favour of a war on Iraq. Briefings of America’s planned humanitarian assistance to Iraq have also been scheduled.