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President addresses Iraq in State of Union speech
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by John Buchel
Wednesday, January 29, 2003
President Bush delivered his annual State of the Union address to the members of U.S. Congress, millions of Americans and people watching throughout the world. The speech tried to bring attention to Bush’s domestic policies, local political experts said, but his foreign agenda and comments about possible military action in Iraq drew debate.
Bush’s address confronted the currently depressed U.S. economy and a number of domestic issues before turning to the issue of Iraq.
“Lower taxes and greater investment will help this economy expand,” Bush said early in his speech. “This tax relief is for everyone who pays income taxes, and it will help our economy immediately.”
Bush said the next priorities of his domestic policy would be weaning the American fuel economy from its dependence on foreign oil while improving the environment and providing affordable health care for all Americans.
In the second half of the speech, Bush turned to the continuing war on terrorism.
“We’ve got the terrorists on the run. We’re keeping them on the run,” Bush said. “One by one, the terrorists are learning the meaning of American justice.”
Charles Jones, an emeritus political science professor at the University of Wisconsin, said the first half of the address was typical of past State of the Union addresses.
“If you look at past presidents like Bill Clinton, who had no major crisis to address, their State of the Union address read more like laundry lists of what they want to accomplish,” Jones said.
Bush’s focus on domestic issues was a strategy designed in response to criticisms that he focuses too heavily on foreign policy, Jones said.
“It seemed he wanted to get through the traditional purposes of the address. Also, he wanted to build up to the question on everyone’s mind, which was Iraq,” Jones said, adding that Bush talked of Iraqi disarmament last because it was the most dramatic issue.
Jones said he thought other dramatic initiatives included Bush’s proposal for millions of dollars for AIDS assistance in Africa.
“There has been an initiative [on the African epidemic] in the works in the bureaucracy for a while,” said Michael Schatzberg, a UW political science professor. “I was surprised it made it into the State of the Union address. It’s certainly the most public commitment that an American president has made in the matter.”
Regarding the environment, Bush included a $1.2 billion request for research for hydrogen-cell fueled cars.
“Hydrogen-cell fueled cars work and they are efficient, but they’re very expensive,” said Randy Cortwright, a scientist in UW’s chemical engineering department.
Cortwright said he hopes some of the money Bush proposed would not just go to large automotive companies, but also to UW’s chemical engineers.
“I was very pleased with his statement about investing significant money into research for the environment, that hopefully within one generation we could have hydrogen-fueled cars,” said U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.
Baldwin, who opposes going to war, said she was concerned with the position Bush took on Iraq.
“It appeared to me that the president was not likely to continue working closely with other nations,” Baldwin said. “If you contrast his rhetoric on Iraq with the discussion of North Korea, which poses a much more urgent threat to our community, they’re uneven.”
U.S. Rep. Tom Petri, R-Wis., said Bush deserved credit for treating Iraqi disarmament as an urgent matter “even though it’s taking us in the direction of a war that nobody really wants.”
“Saddam Hussein has been stringing us along for 12 years now; the various wars he has launched have already resulted in a million deaths,” Petri said.
World support for U.S. action against Iraq is drying up, said Bruce Cronin, an assistant political science professor at UW.
“France and Germany are very strongly opposed to war. Most of Europe is. Spain and Italy have very conservative governments right now, as does the Netherlands, so they might be in favor of action,” Cronin said. “The administration is on very bad footing right now in terms of public opinion.”
While British Prime Minister Tony Blair continues to support the United States, Cronin said British public opinion is swaying against Blair and possible war.
“Typically people from around the world watch the address because it concerns U.S. policy, which affects the whole world,” Cronin said.
