Tuesday, July 5, 2005 - Page updated at 12:00 AM

William Raspberry / Syndicated columnist

The unanswered questions about U.S. policy in Iraq

WASHINGTON — The poll numbers are alarming — 77 percent approval in a Washington Post survey a scant two years ago and 48 percent approval at the beginning of last week. So it isn't surprising that the president's speech last Tuesday at Fort Bragg was designed to reverse the disastrous trend.

What was surprising to me is how badly George Bush misdiagnosed the reasons for the plummeting numbers. He seemed to think the numbers are down because Americans have forgotten 9/11 — five separate mentions — or because we've lost our will to take a stand or because we have become complacent about terrorism.

No. The numbers are down because the American people have come to believe that the administration has no plan for dealing with either Iraq specifically or terrorism generally — beyond "staying the course."

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