I'm very uneasy too. The president needs to be more stern and forceful with Syria and Iran......for openers.
Posted on 07/03/2005 3:21:25 PM PDT by CHARLITE
The problem is not that his speech Tuesday night failed to quell his critics: The problem is that his speech failed to reassure his worried supporters.
Those of us who support this president and this war do not need to be told how important it is to win. That's precisely why we are worried — because every day brings terrible news that makes us fear that the war is being lost.
He could have cited the capture of three of the top insurgent leaders over the last three months, including Abed Dawood Suleiman (Abu Musab Zarqawi's top military aide), Muhammad Khalaf Shakar (the leader of the Mosul Al Qaeda cell) and his aide, Hussein Alaiwi Ibrahim.
The president could have talked about the capture of weapons caches, the discovery of an insurgent torture chamber, and the rescue of Australian hostage Douglas Wood. He might have quoted Wood's words after the rescue — "God bless America" — and mentioned Wood's continuing faith that the Anglo-Australian-U.S. mission in Iraq remains worthwhile.
Americans want to hear a plan for victory. It's good that U.S. forces are training Iraqis. And yes, as Iraqi forces become more capable, it's logical that U.S. forces would stand down. But as Winston Churchill said after Dunkirk, "wars are not won by evacuations." And they aren't won by resolve alone either. We have a full-scale terrorism war on our hands in Iraq, a bigger war than the administration expected, backed by at least one regional government, Syria's, and abetted by another, Iran's.
On Sept. 20, 2001, the president said: "From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime."
Have those words been abandoned? If not, what consequences will these hostile regimes face?
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
I'm very uneasy too. The president needs to be more stern and forceful with Syria and Iran......for openers.
Char
I thought the President's speech was great the way it was. However, I do agree there needs to be a much better and more intense PR machine coming out of the WH and RNC relaying the points above!
And doing so on a daily or weekly basis - The lack of intensity out of the WH and RNC regarding our successes just doesn't cut it for me! -
We are fighting the most successful unconventional war in history! - We need to start telling and retelling our successes. (to offset the lies and spin of the MSM and those who wish us to fail).
Finally got around to the nitty gritty in the last sentence. President Bush needs to stand by his famous quote that no nation can harbor or abet terrorists. We have fallen into the PC mood trying to allow Iraq to take on the burden of their own defense. The problem is as in Vietnam we are allowing our enemies safe areas where we won't chase them. This needs to stop right away if for no other reason that to put an end to our guys playing the ducks in a shooting gallery as they ride around waiting for the next IED.
I know the President has a pair, now he needs to get on with it. They aren't going to like us anyway.
For openers, he better rev up the draft ... he couldn't invade Kuwait, much less Iran and Syria, without it.
If Frum's wife wasn't such a big mouth, he would still be writing speeches for our President.
I agree the WH needs to be more agressive in defending President Bush's policy but so do the House and Senate Republicans too. Day after day the democrats are out there spewing their talking points and it seems like day after day they go unanswered. Yes Bush should do more but it would be nice if he had a little help too.
There's not much Bush can do as he is not in control of events, he can only react. Three and a half more years of this and Bush's approval ratings will be in the 20% range, and the Democratic nominee a shoo-in.
I think we are talking about two "wars" here.
The first, and most apparent, is the War On Terror. Iraq is the current active "battlefield" as the President said, and we (the US + allies) cannot afford to lose the WOT or democracy and our way of life becomes irrelevant in world affairs! The President indicated this too, but not so bluntly.
The second is the MSM & democrat's "War On President Bush". This to is a "war" that the MSM & Dems cannot lose or they become "irrelevant" in national / world affairs!
The second "war" is closely linked to the PERCEPTIONS of how the first one is going... hence all the doom, gloom and carping. This is straight out of the MSM's" Vietnam War Fourth Estate playbook! The growing popularity of blogs, talk radio, plunging public confidence, and voices like FOX are all signs they are NOT winning their "WOPB".
I think President Bush did a fine job of presenting the fundamental case for our current actions. I can read & hear as well as anyone else. I don't need "experts" to tell me what I should think! I KNOW the MSM and Dems are frantically trying to get my attention by SHOUTING outlandish charges daily in order to win their "war". They are trying to put in a wedge of doubt in my perception, and I'll be danged if I will let them do that! If they had any credibility, then I would listen a bit closer.
David Frum is a good guy, but if he is doubting based on MSM reports, then the MSM and Dems have managed to win another small "victory". I don't see how the MSM credibility is any greater than some of the blogs that I read that give me a much more optimistic picure.
Please hold the MSM and Dems up to the same "believability" standard that you are holding the President and our troops!
Victory in Iraq would be a stable pro-US government that can last on its own - extremely unlikely. But regardless of how Iraq turns out, which will be bad, the West is going to have to deal with the threat of Islam and its inspired terrorism. Bush clearly doesn't have the competence and flexibility to handle it. That speech on Tuesday was a big flop. If Republicans keep living in fantasy land, then the Democrats will easily win in 2008.
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