Bush turns Europe's consensus on its head

Daily Telegraph ^ | November 20, 2003 | staff

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Who gave Iraqis the freedom to protest?*** I can't understand how they can fail to see that the world was already proved hideously dangerous on 9/11; that inertia was a counsel of cowardice and despair; and that, whatever the faults of his government - from Guantanamo Bay to steel tariffs - Bush has rid the world of a tyrant, who deprived his people of freedoms taken for granted in London.***

[tkathy]

"He believes that the misery of many millions in the vast Muslim world cannot mainly be ascribed to the wrongdoings of Israel, but rather to the rottenness of their own rulers."

Once the Muslim world comes to grip with the fact that they, not the jews or Americans, are the source of their own problems, they could start to grow up as a religion. At the present, Islam is in the infantile "terrible two's"

Bush gave an awesome speech.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Bush gave an awesome speech.

Yes. We've come a long way from "Boxers or briefs?"

[mylife]

Thank God we have a president who will tell the truth about over 80 years of failed european policy in the middleast.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Against a backdrop of London landmarks, President George W. Bush delivers a speech at The Banqueting House in London November 19, 2003. Bush toughened his stance on Israel over the huge barrier it is building in the West Bank as Palestinians met to discuss a truce that could help revive peace talks. Photo by Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

[Savage Beast]

"terrorism and rogue states can be vanquished"

Can be and shall be.

"...unlike the exhausted European empires of the post-war era...America is fighting this battle at the height of its powers."

Yes. And unlike the decadent European nations of the present era, America is healthy, energetic, self-confident, strategically and morally clear, optimistic, ascendant--and at the height of its powers!

And furthermore, all this notwithstanding:

If the Europeans have forgotten the price of appeasement, the Americans are well qualified to remind them--or they could take a stroll along the beaches of Normandie!

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Bump!

[ReleaseTheHounds]

I can't understand how they can fail to see that the world was already proved hideously dangerous on 9/11

Imagine today's terrorist bombings in Istanbul if they included Iranian nuc's... If the world doesn't wake up to that prospect, and the need to confront it, then the entire civilized world will be threatened. You can't hide from this craziness -- it has to be confronted. Thank God we have President Bush and Tony Blair standing tall during this critical moment in history. Imagine Bill Clinton or President Al Gore... I shudder.

[Savage Beast]

"the misery of many millions in the vast Muslim world cannot mainly be ascribed to the wrongdoings of Israel, but rather to the rottenness of their own rulers."

And, more fundamentally, to the foolishness of the people themselves, who not only are responsible for choosing and following these rulers but are also responsible for their own destiny.

[BlessedBeGod]

Even the Brits are comparing Bush to Reagan.

[Savage Beast]

The staff of the Telegraph is correct. Anti-Westernism and anti-Americanism are the overriding passion of Leftists.

[Savage Beast]

"Islam is in the infantile 'terrible two's'"

It's been there for 1,400 years. Maybe that's the best it's going to do.

[xzins]

It was an excellent speech.

It was reasonable, logical. If X doesn't work and you continue doing it, then at some point your sanity is questionable. Bush proposes an expansion of liberty and democracy; the deposing of tyrants.

I think he's right. At least it's not the same old X.

[Axolotl]

To me, this analysis is dead on, that speech was incredibly ambitious and a dramatic departure from our past policy in the ME and elsewhere. That fact has not sunk in with many...

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Jealously is a terrible thing.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

The speech was simple, logical and straight forward. Not difficult to grasp if you care about freedom. Not difficult to implement if you stand for good over evil; self-interest over sacrifice.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

oops - sacrifice over self-interest.

[PogySailor]

As I said on another thread:

They hate the West.
They hate America.
And above all else, the focus of their hate in this decade is GWB.

[Renfield]

"....And, more fundamentally, to the foolishness of the people themselves, who not only are responsible for choosing and following these rulers but are also responsible for their own destiny...."

You stole my thunder here. The old maxim, that People Get the Government They Deserve, still holds true. And, unfortunately, the Arabs never passed through the Reformation or the Enlightenment, (and certainly not a Christian religious awakening) and many of them (among other things) don't understand the need for separation of religious and secular authorities. I don't hold much hope that the Arabs will ever have honest representative government. Living in liberty is not the natural state of mankind; our embrace of Liberty is a rare and serendipitous condition, to be nourished and cherished.

Liberty cannot be imposed upon a populace from without.

[Savage Beast]

The delusional hate nothing more than truth. It threatens their delusions.