Let me probe you again, CB: what should have been in the history lesson that would have made the speech more effective?
The main point is that these things take time. They demand changes in tactics to deal with changing circumstances on the ground. And, the global stakes if we fail are comparable to the stakes after WW II.
Just try to imagine what the last 55 years of world history would have looked like, had we pulled out of Germany before the task was well completed. West Germany might have collapsed into chaos, and been taken over by East Germany, with Soviet help.
Even with the USSR gone, the world still has more than half its population living under murderous dictatorships. If we get out too early, as many leftists and a few rightists are arguing, our failure will vastly strengthen the hand of the dictators. And given today's weapons, THAT failure may be measured in hundreds of thousands or millions of Americans assassinated here, in our own cities.
I think President Bush clearly sees this deadly possibility. I am concerned that he's not expressing that effectively, using history as the example -- and rubbing the press' noses in that history.
John