Posted on 09/08/2003 10:22:12 PM PDT by JohnHuang2
Hours before President Bush's speech Sunday night (Sept. 7), the top U.S. commander in Iraq summed up in a single sentence the importance of creating a free and democratic Iraq. Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez said, "The only way we will fail in this country is if we decide to walk away in Iraq and fight the next battle in the war on terrorism in America."
That stark assessment was echoed by the president in his national address. George Bush demonstrated the kind of resolve that is necessary to prevail in Iraq and against the terrorism that is worldwide when he vowed to do and spend "whatever is necessary . to achieve this central victory in the war on terror, to promote freedom and to make our nation more secure."
The president said the United Nations not only has an opportunity but a "responsibility to assume a broader role in assuring that Iraq becomes a free and democratic nation."
The president's Sunday address was a needed reminder of the stakes in the global war on terrorism. He has repeatedly said (and did so again Sunday night) that this will be a long war with casualties and that it will take time and resolve to win it.
European nations, including France and Germany, that opposed the toppling of the serial murderer Saddam Hussein seem to be enjoying the difficulties faced by the United States in Iraq. But this should not be payback time for U.S. refusal to adopt a go-slower approach to Saddam's regime. Nations that enjoy the riches of freedom have a moral obligation, when possible, to share their political and spiritual assets with countries that suffer from the poverty of totalitarianism.
(Excerpt) Read more at townhall.com ...
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