Members of Congress had a lot of gall telling President Bush that they wanted a big say in whether we go to war with Iraq.
They don`t seem to understand that despite what the Constitution says about Congress declaring wars, we`re in a fast-moving, high-tech era of conflict. Military choices must be made quickly. The commander in chief can`t spend weeks, days, hours or even minutes discussing his plans with a flock of senators. He must be ready to make split-second decisions.
That`s why a modern president, such as Bush, must base his decisions on what the most recent polls show.
Do the polls show that the troop buildup can affect the outcome of November`s congressional races? Is there a mathematical relationship between gas pump prices and an acceptable body count? Can a president be re-elected if he first declares that a Saddam Hussein is a Hitler-like monster and a threat to the entire civilized world, but then he doesn`t go in there and kill the villain.
And most importantly, do the polls show that there could be a dreaded peace movement stirring in America? There are signs that such a movement is taking shape. Although it isn`t big or widespread yet, all that it would take is a few shots of marchers on prime-time TV and it could spread. Especially when the World Series ends and people have time on their hands.
Of course, it`s doubtful if there would be anything to rival the size and intensity of the Vietnam anti-war movement, which was led by college students. That`s because the long-haired students of that day were more deeply involved in social issues and had more sensitive consciences than today`s students. And also because we still had a draft and they were terrified they might be called and would get their butts shot off.
But now, with an all-volunteer military, draft-immune students are more concerned with ecological threats to their favorite beaches.
Nevertheless, peace rallies and marches are being planned in many cities. They are being organized by disgruntled taxpayers, the jobless, veterans with unhappy memories, habitual peaceniks and even people who have genuine concerns about the propriety of blowing up women and children, even if they are of the Arab persuasion.
That`s why we need polls. The president must have up-to-date information on how many Americans are aware that the ruling Kuwaitis are still
unbelievably wealthy, even though they have been chased from their Kuwait mansions into luxury suites in Saudi Arabia.
Unlike traditional war refugees, the Kuwait rulers are still managing a worldwide investment portfolio with an estimated value of $100 billion.
If that number confuses you, think of it this way: Invested conservatively, it would earn yearly income of about $700 million. And the interest on that income would be about $50 million. And the interest on that would be about $3.5 million. As an economist once said: ”When you got $100 billion to play with, the bucks can really pile up.”
So the emir of Kuwait and his chums aren`t exactly your typical boat people. They have enough money right now so that they could probably go out and buy themselves a new country that would be nicer than Kuwait.
This is something the budding peace movement will surely bandy about. They`ll ask whether we should be going to war to restore the comforts of those who already have enough money to fill Grand Canyon.
Sure, they will say, Saddam is a nasty fellow for mugging a small neighbor. But do we send out the troops when China bullies little Tibet, jailing and torturing its religious leaders? No, we give China a special deal on its imports. Of course Tibet doesn`t pump oil, so it has only itself to blame.
Anyway, all of these factors, and many more, must be quickly weighed by a president, and he can`t do it by schmoozing with congressmen. He must go directly to the key source of wisdom-the ABC-New York Times-CBS-Washington Post-NBC-USA Today-Poll.
It could be disastrous if Bush ordered a surprise blast at Iraq only to be told moments later that the latest polls showed that only 49.99 percent favored an attack while 50.01 percent opposed it.
He`d have to say: ”Darn. If pencils have erasers, why can`t missiles?”
