Posted on 06/02/2004 1:46:59 AM PDT by KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle
DENVER (Reuters) - President Bush on Wednesday will compare his administration's war on terror to World War II and cast the Middle East as a critical front akin to war-time Europe, during a commencement address at the U.S. Air Force Academy, a senior White House official said.
A day after he embraced a new Iraqi interim government as a step toward representative government, the Republican president was also expected to speak in detail about America's enemies such as Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"He'll say we're fighting the broader war on terror throughout the world, but much like in World War II, when Europe became the critical front in that war, the greater Middle East is the critical front in the war on terror," the official said.
"Events in Europe determined the Cold War; this is kind of the equivalent of that in the Middle East," he added.
Bush has repeatedly held out the prospect of a democratic Iraq as a catalyst for spreading political and economic reform across the region through his Greater Middle East Initiative, which he will push at next week's Group of Eight summit during meetings with Western and Arab leaders.
The initiative has angered many Arabs who view it as a system of Western-imposed reforms. But that has not stopped Bush from reiterating calls for greater regional "freedom."
"The world is counting on our country to lead the cause of freedom and peace," he told supporters at a Republican fund-raiser in Denver late on Tuesday. "This is the work that history has set before us."
U.S. INTENTIONS
The Air Force Academy speech in Colorado Springs is billed as a follow-up to Bush's address at the Army War College a week ago in which he discussed U.S. intentions for bringing democracy to Iraq, beginning with a scheduled June 30 handover of authority.
"The president's speech is going to focus in the most detail yet on the nature of the enemy we face in the broader war on terror -- why ... this kind of clash of ideologies is a defining moment for our country and the civilized world, much like it was in World War II," the White House official said.
Bush, who is in a tight election year battle against Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry), has seen his job approval ratings slump to new lows amid public concerns about U.S. involvement in Iraq, where more than 800 American soldiers have died since a March 2003 invasion that U.S. officials once likened to the Allied invasion of Europe.
Undeterred by political pressure, the president has donned the mantel of war president by vowing to keep U.S. troops in Iraq until the country is stable and mounting a series war-related speeches that will include a June 6 appearance at the site of the 1944 Normandy invasion.
His Wednesday speech was expected to touch on U.S. efforts in four areas: the disruption and dismantling of militant groups; assistance to governments beset by militant violence such as the Philippines and Afghanistan; enhanced curbs against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; and the promotion of Middle East reform as a buffer against militancy.
The president's speech was expected to get under way at the Air Force Academy shortly after 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT).
Ping
The French have surrendered !
Boy, the Germans must love this comparison.
Has someone in the White House convinced GWB that the "Muslims like us, they really like us?"
This is nothing like liberating Western Europe in WWII! Talk to me when Congress formally declares war on terrorism and institutes the draft. Maybe I'll reconsider.
Anyone know what time this speech will be given?
"The president's speech was expected to get under way at the Air Force Academy shortly after 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT)."
:)
Thank you -- guess I'm just sleep-deprived. Been up all night at work.
Europe was democratic before facism. The Middle East has never been democratic.
I've doubts democracy can work in that culture. Looks like a Wilsonian wormhole to me. Why are we worrying about democratizing people who have done nothing to gain it for themselves?
Kill the terrorists. If a government helps us do that, let them stay. If not, exterminate them and install a government that will support us.
I wouldn't spend one US soldier's live defending the voting rights of flag-burning Arabs. This war is about killing terrorists and protecting American democracy, not modernizing a backwards civilizations.
"Europe was democratic before facism. The Middle East has never been democratic."
Germany, the Eastern European countries and Japan had never been democratic.
"Why are we worrying about democratizing people who have done nothing to gain it for themselves?"
Because if those countries are democratic, safe and prosperous won't export hate and terrorism, but democracy, hope and prosperity. It is the one way to win the war on terror.
"Europe was democratic before facism. The Middle East has never been democratic."
A very important point.
"Germany, the Eastern European countries and Japan had never been democratic."
Sorry, I meant Germany wasn't a stable democracy before Hitler. After WWII, most people though democracy was impossible in Germany and Japan. During the Cold War, they said the same about the Eastern European countries.
"Has someone in the White House convinced GWB that the "Muslims like us, they really like us?"
This is nothing like liberating Western Europe in WWII! Talk to me when Congress formally declares war on terrorism and institutes the draft. Maybe I'll reconsider."
If you mean we aren't conducting this war as we did WW II,that was my first thought when I read this article.I don't know that we can yet-or ever will for that matter.Thats one reason we haven't "won" a war since then.Hoping we conduct it correctly sometime before we are destroyed.
Last I checked, Japan wasn't part of Europe.
Hitler was ELECTED, in case you hadn't heard. Germany was democratic and had a history of democracy, albeit with a monarchy attached, long before Nazism raised it's head.
Germany is also a Christian nation with a Western culture. Iran, Iraq, Syria -- not Christian, anti-Western culture.
Do you honestly believe "free" Muslims will become our allies? Bush was right when he called this a Crusade after 9/11. Since then he's lost his way and fallen into this save the Muslims from themselves nonsense.
The Palestinians have the vote. Who did they vote for? Arafat. Did the bus bombings stop once the Palestinians got to vote? Hell, no.
Where are the freedom fighters in the Arab world? If you know of any, I say we arm them to the teeth. (Of course, we did that with the Taliban and see what it got us.)
IMHO, you are wrong. Watching "Ike" on A&E (starring Tom Sellick) this weekend, I noticed that the similarities to our difficulties during WWII are striking. We are fighting the very same EVIL, and many of the players are the same (the french for example).
They had the very same ideas and attitudes in WWII, as professed by chirac today. They are little more than a nation of whores, selling out to the highest bidder!
The WOT, is in some ways, more dangerous than facing Tojo, or the Nazi's. If you do not believe that our very way of life is threatened by politics of the ME, you need to seriously study the matter again…with an open mind.
LLS
Undoubtedly our way of life is threatened by the ME. I just don't trust the inhabitants of the ME to make us safe.
Have you forgotten the pictures of Iraqis dancing on the bridge under the burnt bodies of Americans? These are the people who are going befriend us once they gain their freedom?
Nation building is nonsense. These people are enslaved by a culture, not a political system. Do you honestly believe we can change that?
"Germany was democratic and had a history of democracy"
The German democracy before Hitler wasn't stable. People though a real democracy wouldn't working in Germany after WWII. They were wrong.
"Germany is also a Christian nation with a Western culture. Iran, Iraq, Syria -- not Christian, anti-Western culture."
Like President Bush says, liberty is God's gift to humanity. Democracy is not a Western system. Japan is not a Christian country. However, it's a democracy. After WWII, most people said democracy wouldn't work there. They were wrong.
Turkey is a Muslim country. It is a democracy.
Afghanistan has a Constitution and will have an election in September. Most Afghans are happy with America. They are free now. They don't support the taliban or Al Qaeda.
Iraq has a provisional Constitution and will have an election next year. Most Iraqis don't support Saddam, Al Sadr or Al Qaeda. About 90% of them want democracy.
A free, prosperous and secure country in the hearth of Middle East will be a victory on terrorism. Iraq will be an example for the rest of Muslim countries.
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