Bush Plays the Palace. A smashing London performance.

NRO ^ | November 19, 2003, 1:24 p.m. | Clifford May

[.cnI redruM]

President Bush's "Three Pillars" speech at Whitehall Palace today may have been the most significant of his presidency. What's more, he was almost as eloquent as Tony Blair. It must be something in the British water — or tea.

Politically, his message was bad news for the neo-isolationist Right and the post-humanitarian Left. Bush made it clear that he believes freedom is the predicate for peace. He said plainly that he will not shy away from using "force when necessary in the defense of freedom." He added:

[W]e cannot turn a blind eye to oppression just because the oppression is not in our own backyard. No longer should we think tyranny is benign because it is temporarily convenient. Tyranny is never benign to its victims, and our great democracies should oppose tyranny wherever it is found.

He reiterated the core insight of his administration, an idea that has yet to sink in with many people in Europe — and with many in the U.S. as well:

The greatest threat of our age is nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons in the hands of terrorists, and the dictators who aid them. The evil is in plain sight. The danger only increases with denial. Great responsibilities fall once again to the great democracies. We will face these threats with open eyes, and we will defeat them.

Bush paid homage to two predecessors: Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat who, like Bush, believed that democracies have a right to defend themselves and an obligation to defend one another. He echoed President Reagan who stood up to the intellectual elites who insisted on a moral equivalence between the free world and the Soviet Empire.

When he alluded to Europe's past mistakes — Neville Chamberlain's appeasement of Hitler at Munich, which led to the Blitz and Auschwitz — Bush also was paying tribute to Winston Churchill and, in a way, to Tony Blair. He spoke out specifically against the stunning reemergence of European antisemitism.

He called for what one might term a muscular multilateralism. He said that a U.N. that ignores oppression and aggression, that issues resolutions but shows no resolve, cannot play a serious role in world affairs.

There were no apologies in this speech. And Bush's message of "no retreat" in Iraq could not have been more forcefully stated. Note, in particular, these passages:

Whatever has come before, we now have only two options: to keep our word, or to break our word. The failure of democracy in Iraq would throw its people back into misery and turn that country over to terrorists who wish to destroy us. ...We did not charge hundreds of miles into the heart of Iraq and pay a bitter cost of casualties, and liberate 25 million people, only to retreat before a band of thugs and assassins. Let's hope that folks at State, the Pentagon, the CIA, and Congress were listening — and that they remember who signs their paychecks.

The Democratic presidential candidates also should be asked to agree or disagree. And let's understand that those who say they want no retreat but do want a turnover of Iraq to the U.N. are, in fact, advocating both retreat and defeat. No one can really believe that what the world's only superpower won't do, Kofi Annan's blue helmets will do.

Nor did Bush shy away from putting a moral frame around his policies. Americans, he said without embarrassment, "are a religious people." He reminded his audience that Britain's opposition to slavery sprang from religious conviction. Had realists favoring stability been in charge, slave ships would still be plying the Atlantic today. (He didn't quite say that — but I do.)

Bush did not back off his new paradigm of the Arab-Israeli conflict. As he first said in his June 24, 2002, speech, the Palestinians can have a state — or they can have terrorism and corruption. But they can't have both, not with U.S. support, anyway. He asked the Europeans to stop pretending that Yasser Arafat is anything but a terrorist and an obstacle to peace.

One more thing: Bush's timing is getting better. His jokes were well-delivered. And for the first time that I've seen, his facial expressions synchronized to what he was saying. All in all, a jolly good performance.

[Belial]

Bush put it right in the faces of the anti-war crowd.

Not quite. His speech was given before a hand-picked audience.

[Itzlzha]

ok.... i dont like the US's imperialism.. i dont like the fact that we r the worlds 911.. what is that going to teach them? o lets fall into tyranny and let the u.s get us out every time!! and how about we bring our troops back and protect our borders instead of invading every1... or is it just easier to kill every1. I mean stopping terrorists and immigrants from coming in would pretty much limit the possibility of a terror attack don't you think?

Here's some free advice...

Grow up...leave your parent's basement...stop smoking a big spleef before you try to gather a cogent thought...and try to grasp that the WORLD HAS CHANGED!

This AIN'T the 60's anymore...the world doesn't LOVE YOU! And giving an Islamazi a Coke isn't going to stop him from seeing you as an INFIDEL!

And the trust-fund anarchist/socialists that preach peace, tolerance of others, and love while attacking the very foundations of liberty that provide these things are NOT the future...the are an anachronism and an echo of the failures of the past...and our blindness to the poison they spread from generation to generation.

We ARE the foundation of hope for the world, and we will NOW act as such! No longer shall we wait for others to gain enough courage to strike us...we will strike them where they hide, and they will fear US!

Face it sparky...you are a floater in the toilet of life, and the handle is about to flush!

P.S., learn to type a sentence...it might make you look less stupid.

[Tom Bombadil]

Not quite. His speech was given before a hand-picked audience.

Good observation except that the press is putting in front of everybody.

Litterally in the face of opponents or not, it doesn't give an inch and that is what matters.

[Tom Bombadil]

Not quite. His speech was given before a hand-picked audience.

Good observation except that the press is putting it in front of everybody.

Literally in the face of opponents or not, it doesn't give an inch and that is what matters.

[Eurotwit]

Not quite sickening if you were actually listening.....The president implied that the the palestinians would get a state when they were lead by a Palestinian G. Washington. When do you think that is gonna happen?

That said: The Israelis should stop with the Sharon half measures, and clean up the Palestinian territories for good.

[ladyinred]

It was a spectacular speech, and I would hope just one or two of the socialists out there protesting hears at least a few soundbites. The same goes for those in this country. Too bad it wasn't in prime time here at home because it was one of his best.

[yoe]

Correspondent Christiane Amanpour must be furious over this article. Her snide remark..."He chose to not make the traditional head of state or head of government address to Parliament, instead giving that speech to a secluded audience at lunchtime today. She obviously doesn't know any better.
I particularly like the President saying...
"The Democratic presidential candidates also should be asked to agree or disagree. And let's understand that those who say they want no retreat but do want a turnover of Iraq to the U.N. are, in fact, advocating both retreat and defeat. No one can really believe that what the world's only superpower won't do, Kofi Annan's blue helmets will do. "...Spot On Mr. President – Spot On!

[BlueNgold]

How refreshing is it to have an Amercan President who admits that he prays 'often'? I think that admission alone shows the humility of a man who envisions great things, but does not presuppose to have all the answers. I no longer believe that the left underestimates him: I truly believe that they simply cannot fathom the mindset of someone who speaks and acts based on morals, integrity, and courage. The concept is lost on them, but thankfully most Americans still remember how it feels.

[yonif]

"Israel should freeze settlement construction, dismantle unauthorized outposts, end the daily humiliation of the Palestinian people and not prejudice final negotiations with the placements of walls and fences."

[sanjacjake]

Loved your reply to the Rebel..the guy is obviously
mentally deficient....these people have to follow the
bouncing ball..before it lands on their pinhead...Geez..
what do these people need...we are under constant attack,
first verbally by our own fat "do nothings" and then we
are supposed t Clintonize the terrorists..so they won't hurt us again..what a bunch of crock...give 'em hell..
"W"..most of us are with you 110%......Jake

[Eurotwit]

Alright Yonif, you got me there.

I do think the president is a bit naive when it comes to the Israel/Palestinan situation. I am a Christian, but I am not too hung up on the old testament support for Israel. When it comes to the current situtation I try to use my conservative brain (and heart). A mutual beneficial situation woul be a pipe dream, but unfortunately I donæt think the muslim world is ready for it. That saidm I think the current Israeli policy is misguided.

Either build a wall around the green line, and expell any "israeli arab" who is a security risk" Probably the lot' of 'em", or chuck 'em all out of the west bank and gaza Elon style and be done with it. I have talked quite in depth with a few "moderate muslims" and and I do think that as far an the current situation is concerned: No compromise on Israel is possible, simply because no compromise is considered from the other side.

[TheRedSoxWinThePennant]

I hear security is beefed up around the palace

[Wolfstar]

Agreed. He has given some of the most profound and beautiful speeches of at least the last half-century, and I would say in all of American history. John F. Kennedy has been propped up as a virtual saint of the Left these past 40 years for three reasons: He was a Democrat. He was assassinated. And he gave a handful of good speeches with catchy, easy-to-memorize lines. For this, most Americans educated after his time now think he was one of the greatest presidents — if not THE greatest. But JFK was a minnow compared to the bona fide giant that is George W. Bush.

[JohnGalt]

So sending teenage girls from West Virginia to act as human bait in a $200 billion debt financed nation-building project is the 'brave thing' to do?


What is up is down, what is down is up.

[Southack]

Classy. Sublime.

[JohnGalt]

If Trotsky floats your boat, I guess you might like Bush speeches, but they mostly make me cringe.

[Southack]

"So sending teenage girls from West Virginia to act as human bait in a $200 billion debt financed nation-building project is the 'brave thing' to do?"

Yes, it takes quite a bit of courage to stand up to the PC madness that would appease terrorists and tyrants rather than spill the blood of our youth to actually do something about them.

[doug from upland]

Are we in a parallel universe? A president who does not put his finger in the wind. Who isn't guided by polls. Who won't listen to the cheese eating surrender monkeys or the U.N. Who stands up for the defense of freedom. Scotty, beam me up. We got used to a president who didn't give a damn about our security and who turned the White House into a whore house.

[JohnGalt]

Our youth or someone else's youth?


I guess I just don't fear cave dwellers the way some of you all do. At the least I understand how the John Birch Society filled its ranks in the 1950s, only the Soviet Union and Communism was an actual thing to fear.

I suppose myself and other Americans are just made of stiffer stock.

[Eurotwit]

Does your nick have anything to do with Johan Galtung?