I missed President Bush's speech tonight as I was busy covering the slow death of a local township for The Forest Lake Times. Living in the wonderful information age though, as I do, I was able to read the speech in full. A special thanks to the link queen, Republican Jen, for getting me started so fast. Although I am sure could have found it, I checked her site first and sure enough, there it was.
The crux of the speech was to remind the American people what this is all about, and address the uber-left's increasingly shrill call for an exit strategy. That is one point that I will not address, because the whole notion of a timetable for withdrawl is so silly and myopic that it does not deserve consideration. It is simply another aspect of what Hugh Hewitt would call the "retreat and defeat" mentality of the left, which is bent on snatching defeat from the very jaws of victory.
There were, however, some interesting points made by the President that deserve highlighting.
Some wonder whether Iraq is a central front in the war on terror. Among the terrorists, there is no debate. Hear the words of Usama bin Laden: "This Third World War … is raging" in Iraq. "The whole world is watching this war." He says it will end in "victory and glory or misery and humiliation."
So, let's see. The Republicans agree that the war on terror is being fought in Iraq, and Bin Laden agrees that the war on terror is being fought in Iraq. That leaves the left, who apparently don't recognize a war on terror when they see one. Either that, or they would prefer it end in "victory and glory" for Bin Laden. That makes them extremely dim, or working for the other side. I'll let the reader decide which is more accurate.
These are savage acts of violence — but they have not brought the terrorists any closer to achieving their strategic objectives. The terrorists — both foreign and Iraqi — failed to stop the transfer of sovereignty. They failed to break our Coalition and force a mass withdrawal by our allies. They failed to incite an Iraqi civil war. They failed to prevent free elections. They failed to stop the formation of a democratic Iraqi government that represents all of Iraq's diverse population. And they failed to stop Iraqis from signing up in large numbers with the police forces and the army to defend their new democracy. (emphasis added)
I count no less than six massive strategic failures by terrorists who desire a victory in this war. They are indisputable. Contrarily, the coalition has achieved every goal it has set for itself thus far. Sometimes they have taken longer than expected, and other times they came at a higher price than expected, but nevertheless, every failure listed here was also a succes for us.
Can someone explain to me how that translates to "quagmire." To "abject failure." The war on terror is proceeding exactly as planned, except for the fact that it is indeed a war, which the left seems to have difficulty grasping. Did they expect the terrorist infrastructure to just give us these victories? Apparantly so.
More than 2,000 members of the Iraqi Security Forces have given their lives in the line of duty.
These are the people that don't seem to matter to the left. While they are always there, at the ready, to point out the over 1,700 American soldiers that have lost their lives in Iraq, for some reason Iraqi soldiers don't seem to tally in their figures, nor do Iraqi civilians, except when bogus figures can be used to pin deaths on the American military.
Do the Iraqi's that have given their lives in this war not deserve our respect and full measure?
The President addressed the nation tonight no doubt due to sagging poll support for the war. And once again he reminds us that the war is not about what is popular, but rather about what is right. Do I agree with everything he does? Hardly. But I voted for him originally because I was tired of politicians who based every decision on polls. And, in 2004 I proudly voted to re-elect him because he had proven my instinct spot on.
Personally, I have never been more proud of my country than I am for its undertaking of this massive effort to foment change in the Middle East. It was long overdue and it was right. My optimism for success is based on the long list of successes we have already enjoyed. Nevertheless, it continues to be an uphill battle.
Terrorist forces learned only too well from our time in Somalia that "weak" America can be made to retreat. It was Clinton's worst mistake and has made this job all that much harder. The Democratic Party has added to that presumption with their weak-kneed response to hard work.
But, cutting and running now would be worse than never having gone there in the first place. Not only would it leave Iraq to an uncertain and probably horrific future, but it will guarantee that when the war on terror is begun again, on some other battlefield, it will have once again been made harder by an immeasurable factor. It is hard at times, and heart-breaking at others. But, for the sake of our children, the children of Europe, and the children of the Middle East, we must stay the course.
Also posting: Captain's Quarters live blogged the whole thing.
No comments:
Post a Comment