Ron Fineman's OTR * Chris Kazarian

On September 14th and September 20th, 2001, President Bush addressed a nation that was still reeling from the murder of 3,000 innocent lives at the hands of an enemy most of us knew little about. Each one of those 3000 murdered in that attack left behind grieving parents, spouses, children, siblings, extended family and friends.

Those two speeches President Bush gave were two of the finest I have ever heard a president give, and among some of the best presidential speeches I have ever read. The nation was united in its desire to do everything possible to ensure that those responsible would pay mightly for their actions, and that any such similar attack would never again occur on our shores. So what happened?

No one will ever compare President Bush's public speaking ability to FDR's or Ronald Reagan's; and while The President is often self-deprecating regarding his abilities in this regard; and while not taking oneself too seriously is an admirable quality, he has unfortunately failed mightily, especially in his second term, in getting his message out to the people.

So, on the chance that you are a subscriber to OTR, Mr. President, and have for whatever reason seen fit to read this column, I respectfully suggest the following.

Rely on the example of FDR. Over the course of his presidency, he used his "Fireside Chats" to communicate with the American people on both domestic and foreign policy matters (the former comprising 14 "chats" from March 1933 to June, 1938, and the latter, 18 between September 1939 and January, 1945).

FDR understood that in a wartime democracy, it was imperitive for the people to know why we were fighting, and to share our successes with them. Nor was he afraid to take on his critics in those "chats", for there were those who made charges that he had been provoking a war with Germany for years before the attack on Pearl Harbor, and that he had placed the priority of our war effort in the European Theater over the Pacific Theater, even though America had not been attacked by Germany.

Mr. President, take a page out of The Gipper's playbook. Remember, "The Great Communicator" was also regarded by the left as "a cowboy".

That aside, President Reagan knew what needed to be done to communicate effectively. As someone once said, " Tell the people what you're going to tell them. Tell them. An then tell them what you've told them."

So how about this for starters, beginning September 11, 2005, don't let 90 days go by without having a little "sit down" with your folks, the people of this country.

Remember that a democracy cannot wage a successful war without the popular and widespread support for, and understanding of, the war effort. When the purpose is clear, and it is understood what is truly at stake, a democratic people will always be victorious against an enemy that threatens to take away that we hold most cherished, our personal freedoms.

Mr. President, FDR understood that it was his responsibility, not the media's (who as a group was admittedly much more pro military during WWII than they are today) to share with the American people why we were fighting that war. Despite the horrendous casulaties reported in the press, he shared with Americans our successes on the battlefield, the liberation of peoples formerly under fascist rule, and a vision for the future.

Remind the people of your words on September 14 and September 20, 2001, and the price to be paid in time and treasure in fighting this Global War On Terrorism.

That since that time we have overthrown the Taliban and The Baathist regime of Saddam Hussein. Remind them that Qaddafi's capitulation regarding WMD was offered to YOU and PM Blair, and NOT Kofi Annan and the U.N. That over 50 million people are now free and that democracies are emerging in the middle east.

Tell the people about the changes in the middle east that aren't reported by "the press". Point out that not only were free elections held in January of this year, but 220,000 Iraqi's took part in deliberations over their constitution. And for those who are so quick to piont out the delays in their meeting the deadline, let them know that a constitution will be ratified and that democracy has a foothold in the region and progress is being made.

They might question that last statement because of what they see on TV or read in the newspaper. So tell them your statement is supported by a survey conducted the Pew Global Attitudes Project in six Muslim countries. (Not a conservative organization or arm of the GOP by any stretch of the imagination).

According to the Pew report, support for terrorism in the defense of Islam has "declined dramatically" in Muslim countries except in Turkey (which maintains a low 14%, and Jordan, which has as a majority of Palestinians making up its population). Since 2004, the number has declined in Pakistan fron 41% to 25%, and in the same time frame from 40% to 13% in Morocco. Since 2002 the number of Muslims supporting terrorism in the defense of Islam has fallen sharply in Lebanon from 73% to 26%, and has almost been cut in half, down to 15% from 27 % in Indonesia.

You can also tell them that the Pew report showed less than 10% of Muslims in Lebanon and Turkey have confidence in Osama bin Laden, and the percentage is dwindling in other Muslim countries as well.

Tell them that the sacrifices we and our coalition partners have made over the past four years in the GWOT and bringing freedom and democracy to tens of millions has yeilded the following response. Between 77% and 83% of people in Lebanon, Jordan, Morocco and Indonesia to said a democracy could work well in their country. Even Pakistanis answered in the affirmative at 50%. The seed of democracy in the middle east has been sown. It is up to us to ensure it is watered and is given every chance to grow and bring forth fruit.

In conclusion, tell the people, "It is our determination to restore those conquered peoples to the dignity of human beings, masters of their own fate, entitled to freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want and freedom from fear. We have started to make good on that promise. I'm sorry if I step on the toes of those Americans, who playing party politics at home, call that kind of foreign policy 'crazy altruism' and 'stary-eyed dreaming' ."

Then mention it was a direct quote from FDR in July, 1943 after the fall of Mussolini. And that America stands for the same things today, that FDR arrticulated 62 years ago.

Then every 90 days or so, have another "sit down" with an update providing postive news and stories from the war.

Mr. President, militarily there is no way the enemy can defeat us on the battlefield, but they can certainly defeat us on the homefront, if you allow the American people to continue to receive a steady and unchecked diet of negativity from "the press."

p.s. Btw,don't know how often you get to browse the web, but you really need to check out some of the best coverage available on this war is by Michael Yon, embedded with the U.S. Army's Deuce Four unit in Iraq. Check out www.michaelyon.blogspot.com. Check it out.

-----------------------

If you'd like to comment on Chris' column, please do...Bruin74@aol.com

For last week's column, click on Kazarian -Last Column