Bush's speech
i've been reading about the Veterans' Day speech Bush gave. He went off on the Dems for wanting to rewrite history. The cojones of this man to accuse others of what he does. How many reasons do we have for going to war in Iraq? How much of his staff have lied to this country? He is desperately trying to stop the free-fall of support for his administration. His numbers are at an all time low. 6 out of 10 Americans do not trust his integrity; 37% approve of his rule. Bush said he respected his opponents' right to disagree with him about the decision to go to war against Iraq, and that as president he accepted responsibility for what has taken place there under his watch.
But he added, "it is deeply irresponsible to rewrite the history of how that war began."
"Some Democrats and anti-war critics are now claiming we manipulated the intelligence and misled the American people about why we went to war. These critics are fully aware that a bipartisan Senate investigation found no evidence of political pressure to change the intelligence community's judgment related to Iraq's weapons programs," Bush said.
"The stakes in the global war on terror are too high, and the national interest is too important, for politicians to throw out false charges," Bush added in a speech that broadly reviewed Washington's declared war on terrorism since the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
Bush's aggressive counter-attack followed stepped up charges by Senate Democrats that top administration officials, and particularly Vice President Dick Cheney, manipulated intelligence on Iraq and leaked classified information to discredit critics of the war.
Lewis "Scooter" Libby, a top aide to Cheney, was indicted last month for obstructing justice, perjury and lying after a two-year investigation into the leak of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity. Plame's husband has said she was outed to get back at him for his criticism of the war.
A few days later, Democrats imposed a rare closed session of the Senate to force majority Republicans to complete a probe on whether the prewar intelligence was misused.
Administration officials have acknowledged the intelligence on Iraqi weapons was faulty, but have said Democrats, Republicans and foreign intelligence agencies had believed Baghdad had deadly weapons before the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
Reuters (the snippet from above) portrays a fighting Bush "ripping" into Dems & "hitting back" at critics
New York Post thought it was a fantastic speech
San Diego Union-Tribune gave an even handed report
Huffington Post comments were *slightly* left leaning
Transcript of the Speech according to the WH
Bush's speech talked *a lot* about Islamic radicalism and how destructive it it. He threw around the word Evil a lot. It sounded Biblical. He outlined the Strategy for Victory. The articles that I read didn't focus on any of that very much, but more on the political jockying. Here's a sample excerpt from the speech.And Islamic radicalism, like the ideology of communism, contains inherent contradictions that doom it to failure. By fearing freedom -- by distrusting human creativity and punishing change and limiting the contributions of half a population -- this ideology undermines the very qualities that make human progress possible, and human societies successful. The only thing modern about the militants' vision is the weapons they want to use against us. The rest of their grim vision is defined by a warped image of the past -- a declaration of war on the idea of progress itself. And whatever lies ahead in the war against this ideology, the outcome is not in doubt. Those who despise freedom and progress have condemned themselves to isolation and decline and collapse. Because free peoples believe in the future, free peoples will own the future. (Applause.)
He outlined the Strategy for Victory.
"First, we're determined to prevent attacks of the terrorist networks before they occur...
Second, we're determined to deny weapons of mass destruction to outlaw regimes, and to their terrorist allies who would use them without hesitation...
Third, we're determined to deny radical groups the support and sanctuary of outlaw regimes...
Fourth, we're determined to deny the militants control of any nation, which they would use as a home base and a launching pad for terror...
Our coalition, along with our Iraqi allies, is moving forward with a comprehensive plan. Our strategy is to clear, hold, and build. We're working to clear areas from terrorist control, to hold those areas securely, and to build lasting, democratic Iraqi institutions through an increasingly inclusive political process...
The fifth element of our strategy in the war on terror is to deny the militants future recruits by replacing hatred and resentment with democracy and hope across the broader Middle East." Wonder if it will work.
I thought it would be interesting to compare and contrast some photos.
Mission Accomplished, May 1, 2003
Stragtegy for Victory, November 11, 2005
Today I watched Frontline - The Man Who Knew about John O'Neill the FBI agent who knew how dangerous Al Qaeda was back in the mid 90s and was obsessed with finding all the connections - he knew that there was going to be a big attack, but didn't know when or where. He quit the FBI in August 2001 because of bureaucratic bullshit within the FBI. He became the chief of security of the World Trade Center and how he ended up dying in the World Trade Center Attacks in September. When he went out to dinner on September 10th, he told one of his friends that "we were due". There are 9 chapters for a total length of 83 minutes (either Real Media or Windows Media Player).
But he added, "it is deeply irresponsible to rewrite the history of how that war began."
"Some Democrats and anti-war critics are now claiming we manipulated the intelligence and misled the American people about why we went to war. These critics are fully aware that a bipartisan Senate investigation found no evidence of political pressure to change the intelligence community's judgment related to Iraq's weapons programs," Bush said.
"The stakes in the global war on terror are too high, and the national interest is too important, for politicians to throw out false charges," Bush added in a speech that broadly reviewed Washington's declared war on terrorism since the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
Bush's aggressive counter-attack followed stepped up charges by Senate Democrats that top administration officials, and particularly Vice President Dick Cheney, manipulated intelligence on Iraq and leaked classified information to discredit critics of the war.
Lewis "Scooter" Libby, a top aide to Cheney, was indicted last month for obstructing justice, perjury and lying after a two-year investigation into the leak of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity. Plame's husband has said she was outed to get back at him for his criticism of the war.
A few days later, Democrats imposed a rare closed session of the Senate to force majority Republicans to complete a probe on whether the prewar intelligence was misused.
Administration officials have acknowledged the intelligence on Iraqi weapons was faulty, but have said Democrats, Republicans and foreign intelligence agencies had believed Baghdad had deadly weapons before the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
Reuters (the snippet from above) portrays a fighting Bush "ripping" into Dems & "hitting back" at critics
New York Post thought it was a fantastic speech
San Diego Union-Tribune gave an even handed report
Huffington Post comments were *slightly* left leaning
Transcript of the Speech according to the WH
Bush's speech talked *a lot* about Islamic radicalism and how destructive it it. He threw around the word Evil a lot. It sounded Biblical. He outlined the Strategy for Victory. The articles that I read didn't focus on any of that very much, but more on the political jockying. Here's a sample excerpt from the speech.And Islamic radicalism, like the ideology of communism, contains inherent contradictions that doom it to failure. By fearing freedom -- by distrusting human creativity and punishing change and limiting the contributions of half a population -- this ideology undermines the very qualities that make human progress possible, and human societies successful. The only thing modern about the militants' vision is the weapons they want to use against us. The rest of their grim vision is defined by a warped image of the past -- a declaration of war on the idea of progress itself. And whatever lies ahead in the war against this ideology, the outcome is not in doubt. Those who despise freedom and progress have condemned themselves to isolation and decline and collapse. Because free peoples believe in the future, free peoples will own the future. (Applause.)
He outlined the Strategy for Victory.
"First, we're determined to prevent attacks of the terrorist networks before they occur...
Second, we're determined to deny weapons of mass destruction to outlaw regimes, and to their terrorist allies who would use them without hesitation...
Third, we're determined to deny radical groups the support and sanctuary of outlaw regimes...
Fourth, we're determined to deny the militants control of any nation, which they would use as a home base and a launching pad for terror...
Our coalition, along with our Iraqi allies, is moving forward with a comprehensive plan. Our strategy is to clear, hold, and build. We're working to clear areas from terrorist control, to hold those areas securely, and to build lasting, democratic Iraqi institutions through an increasingly inclusive political process...
The fifth element of our strategy in the war on terror is to deny the militants future recruits by replacing hatred and resentment with democracy and hope across the broader Middle East." Wonder if it will work.
I thought it would be interesting to compare and contrast some photos.
Mission Accomplished, May 1, 2003
Stragtegy for Victory, November 11, 2005
Today I watched Frontline - The Man Who Knew about John O'Neill the FBI agent who knew how dangerous Al Qaeda was back in the mid 90s and was obsessed with finding all the connections - he knew that there was going to be a big attack, but didn't know when or where. He quit the FBI in August 2001 because of bureaucratic bullshit within the FBI. He became the chief of security of the World Trade Center and how he ended up dying in the World Trade Center Attacks in September. When he went out to dinner on September 10th, he told one of his friends that "we were due". There are 9 chapters for a total length of 83 minutes (either Real Media or Windows Media Player).