L’empire prisonnier de lui-même et sa psychologie épuisée

La situation à Washington est caractérisée par deux choses essentielles: une situation politique d’antagonisme verrouillée, sans possibilité d’un vainqueur, donc d’une décision ; et une psychologie de plus en plus épuisée, autant par la pression de la guerre que par cette situation d’emprisonnement par soi-même. Une analyse de Peter Baker, du Washington Post (reprise sur MSNBC.MSN.com, le 13 juillet) rend bien compte de cette situation qui n’a aucun précédent dans sa forme et dans son intensité. Bien entendu, la position de GW Bush, son attitude inflexible, en est le nœud («Yet no matter how battered he seems, no matter how unpopular he may be in the polls, President Bush still holds the commanding position in his showdown with Congress over Iraq»)

• Le verrouillage de la situation politique, son emprisonnement, sont constatés par les commentateurs de tous bords.

«“The town is gridlocked,” said Kenneth M. Duberstein, who served as chief of staff in the Reagan White House. “There is no give at the White House or on the Hill. The Senate doesn't have 60 votes to do anything. So, at least for the foreseeable future, which may be September, the only result is stalemate. That may benefit the president, and if you listen to the Democrats, they think it benefits them.”

(…)

»“In many ways, everybody's trapped,” said Clinton White House chief of staff Leon E. Panetta, who served on the Iraq Study Group as it produced a bipartisan plan largely discarded at first by both sides. “The president in many ways is trapped in the realities of what's taking place. The Congress is trapped because, while they want to change strategy, they don't have the votes. And both sides are trapped by the fear of the consequences of what happens if they do make a change.”»

• La psychologie washingtonienne est épuisée par ces batailles stériles, ces affrontements sans vainqueur, ces oppositions sans changement. La frustration est évidemment à son comble, avec les pressions à mesure sur les psychologies. Même GW Bush le reconnaît pour lui-même, poursuivant pourtant sa démarche sans varier, affirmant qu’il tiendra jusqu’au bout, comme ferait un martyr d’une certaine façon.

«Yet, there were moments of reflection for a typically unreflective president. It was hard not to wonder whether he was talking about himself as he mused about the “ugly war” and how the American people have wearied of it. “You know, they're tired of the war,” he said. “There is a war fatigue in America. It's affecting our psychology.”

»And then there was the concession that while he still commands policy, he no longer commands the affection of his nation. “I guess I'm like any other political figure – everybody wants to be loved,” he said. “Just sometimes the decisions you make and the consequences don't enable you to be loved.”

»Leaning on the lectern, Bush anticipated the day when the responsibility would no longer be his and expressed his hope for vindication. “When it's all said and done . . . if you ever come down and visit the old, tired me down there in Crawford, I will be able to say, ‘I looked in the mirror and made decisions based upon principle, not based upon politics,’” he said. “And that's important to me.”»

Mis en ligne le 15 juillet 2007 à 09H53