Spurious George

Joe Conason.

Rarely has an American President delivered a more critical but less compelling address than George W. Bush’s ultimatum to Saddam Hussein. Even as he spoke ominously of "tragedy," "appeasement" and "suicide," he failed to show that the Iraqi regime is an immediate threat to the United States. Again, he offered an analogy between Baghdad’s armaments and the Nazi war machine of the 1930’s, although no one back then believed that we would defeat Hitler in a matter of days.

Yet the President’s appeal to fear has persuaded his chosen audience, if not the world. Opinion surveys following his appearance indicate that most Americans now accept his dubious assertion that "every measure has been taken to avoid war." One reason why Americans are rallying around the White House, despite the strong doubts reflected in those same polls, is that many Americans also believe things that are simply not true