The President's terrific
speech last night, just for the record. I was out and watched it only later, on-line. The White House feed caught him at an odd angle, not looking directly at their camera, which made the Prez. seem oddly disengaged. Still, the man does not back down and I admire his courage. I approve of his making this a character issue:
In the life of all free nations, there come moments that decide the direction of a country and reveal the character of its people. We are now at such a moment.
Both for us and the Iraqis:
To the Iraqi people: You have voted for freedom, and now you are liberating your country from terrorists and death squads. You must demand that your leaders make the tough choices needed to achieve reconciliation. As you do, have confidence that America does not abandon our friends, and we will not abandon you.
Actually, that latter is the one line that makes me a bit queazy. We'd like that to be true. In fact, the Iraqis themselves know otherwise, which fact has bedeviled us lo these past 6 years. It'll be true on Bush's watch, at least. I think he made the case, and he kind of dared his political opponents not to join the effort, whatever they thought of the Iraq war originally:
Some say the gains we are making in Iraq come too late. They are mistaken. It is never too late to deal a blow to al Qaeda. It is never too late to advance freedom. And it is never too late to support our troops in a fight they can win.
I see I the Powerline fellas are thinking
similar thoughts.
