The Canadian Press April 03, 2003
'Good Day' For U.S. Buoys Spirits
Battlefield Progress, Rescue Of Lynch Lift Stock Market, Cheer White House
By Bruce Cheadle
America's war got its groove back Wednesday.
After a week of tough slogging on the Iraqi battlefield, a dubious reception from Iraq's civilian population and widespread carping about the war plan at home, U.S. spirits soared Wednesday with news of the rescue of a young soldier and significant military gains around Baghdad.
The swagger was evident from the Central Command in Qatar to Wall Street and from the television news networks to the White House.
"There's no question this is a good day, a good moment and the president is very proud of what took place," Ari Fleisher, spokesman for President George W. Bush, said of Tuesday's dramatic rescue of Pte.1st Class Jessica Lynch, a supply clerk captured by the Iraqis early in the war. In Doha, Qatar, Brig.-Gen. Vince Brooks said Iraq's elite Republican Guard protecting Baghdad "are in serious trouble, and they remain in contact now with the most powerful force on Earth."
A Pentagon briefing in Washington opened with pictures of smiling Iraqis receiving food aid from the troops.
And with word that U.S. marines were reported to be within 40 kilometres of Baghdad, stock markets in the United States showed their biggest gains since the giddy opening days of the conflict two weeks ago.
"It sort of reminds me of when this was going to be a short war," Scott Kinnear, an economist with MMS in Toronto, told The Canadian Press. "We're back in that mindset again. I think it's definitely premature ..."
Indeed, the Pentagon - which had been on the defensive just a day earlier and publicly chided critics for undermining U.S. troop morale - was suddenly on the other side of the fence, trying to dampen over-inflated public expectations.
Spokeswoman Victoria Clark reminded Americans at least five times that "the toughest fighting could be ahead," during the 30-minute media briefing.
That didn't stop her counterpart, Maj.-Gen. Stanley McChrystal, from saying the coalition spearhead was "clearly threatening Baghdad. It's clearly threatening the regime."
U.S. public support for the war has never wavered, say pollsters and analysts, from above 60 per cent during the prewar diplomatic wrangling to upwards of 70 per cent since the invasion began March 20.
"I've been following this from the outset and I can tell you American public opinion is very constant," Frank Newport, editor in chief of the Gallup Poll, said in an interview Wednesday from Princeton, N.J.
"But if you're asking about how well the war is going, how long it will last, that kind of question, these things do move up and down on a daily basis depending on developments. People are paying attention to what they're seeing in the news."
Surveys suggest between 60 and 80 per cent of Americans are getting most of their war news from TV, and the major U.S. networks were positively beaming with good cheer Wednesday.
At one point, a Fox News anchor segued from a story about a BBC camerman killed by a landmine to a field report from a Fox reporter in Iraq: "Man, what a great day!" said the anchor, by way of introduction.
Patrick Garrett, a defence analyst at Globalsecurity.org. in Washington, said the Pentagon's attack this week on critics of its war plan won't change anyone's mind nor stop the second-guessing.
But events on the ground in Iraq will definitely affect the public mood concerning the war, if not underlining opinion.
"If you asked today, it would likely be, 'Oh, the war's going really well, we're outside Baghdad!' "
By contrast, Garrett said, the Defence Department had been on its heals Tuesday.
"They needed a win, and they got it," he said.
Copyright © 2003, The Canadian Press
