L’analyse de la psychologie de GW bat son plein à Washington

Il semble, devant la désespérance d’une situation washingtonienne complètement bloquée face à la descente dans le chaos irakien, que l’analyse de la psychologie du Président des Etats-Unis reste l’occupation centrale des forces politiques de la capitale de l’hyperpuissance. Quel feu habite donc GW ? Comment est-il possible que cet homme, dans la position où il se trouve, conduisant cette désastreuse aventure militaire où les USA peuvent perdre une partie importante de leur puissance et de leur influence, se trouve en si bonne forme et dans un état d’esprit si optimiste, — et plus déterminé que jamais pour continuer dans la même voie catastrophique?

«“Don't worry, it's not as bad as it looks,” he told one friend visiting the White House. “There's a lot we can get done.”», — voilà GW aujourd’hui. Une longue analyse du Washington Post publiée le 16 décembre, se penche, à la fois désolée et résignée, sur le comportement psychologique de ce président. Cela nous donne une longue digression sur le fonctionnement de l’étrange psychologie du 43ème président des Etats-Unis… Climat irréel, pendant que l’Irak brûle, que le reste du monde s’interroge sur le destin de la puissance américaniste, que l’influence des USA ne cesse de décroître et d’être battue en brèche. GW, lui, joue de la lyre d’une belle alacrité optimiste.

Cet homme, vous dit-on, est un entêté…

«“I think George W. Bush is a totally pragmatic politician,” said former senator Alan K. Simpson (R-Wyo.), a member of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, which recommended a new course. “He's going to do outreach. . . . He is a total realist. He knows that the solid, march-in-step Republicans, at least in the House, are gone. . . . Now his legacy depends on the national interest, not partisanship.”

»Others don't buy it. On its Web site last week, the Democratic National Committee said Bush could be “the most stubborn man on Earth” for not immediately embracing the study group's plan. Critics predicted that any new strategy he announces after the holidays will be little more than a dressed-up version of “stay the course.” And a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll found that 66 percent of Americans do not think Bush is willing to change his policies in Iraq.

»“I just don't believe that this president, with this vice president whispering in his ear every moment, is oriented to change,” said retired Col. Larry Wilkerson, who was chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin L. Powell in Bush's first term. “And even if he were, I don't believe his administration is capable of implementing change.”

»Lawrence J. Korb, a former Pentagon official under President Ronald Reagan, agreed. “When it comes to Iraq, he has basically confused stubbornness with steadfastness,” said Korb, who is now at the liberal Center for American Progress. “I think he believes that regardless of what other people say, if he simply stays the course, he'll be eventually proved right. But what he fails to see is the current course isn't working and he has options.”

»The perception of Bush as unusually stubborn has defined his tenure to some extent, much to the consternation of adversaries and sometimes even allies. But Bush was deeply influenced by the fate of his father, whose decision to break his no-new-taxes pledge as president helped doom his reelection. The lesson: Stick to decisions regardless of shifts in political winds.

»The seemingly unshakeable confidence in the rightness of his positions has helped the current president weather political storms that might overwhelm others. For a man who presides over an unpopular war, just lost Congress and faces a final two years with constrained options, Bush gives little sign of self-pity. At holiday parties for friends and family in recent days, he has found himself bucking up others depressed by the turn in his political fortunes. “Don't worry, it's not as bad as it looks,” he told one friend visiting the White House. “There's a lot we can get done.”»

Mis en ligne le 18 décembre 2006 à 07H52