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My personal musings about anything that gets on my radar screen--heavily dominated by politics.

2005-06-29

Quick Take On The President's Speech

I just finished watching the re-broadcast of the speech, so I haven't had time to read it or do any serious thinking about it. So I'm gonna just throw out a few first thoughts, and paint over them later.

First impression: not much new here. Pretty strong, pretty forceful, well-engaged on this topic, but for those of us who have been paying attention this is all old ground.

Second thought: too nice. He had a section on "some would have us. . ." I kept waiting for "Some would have Iraq likened to Vietnam, calling it an 'inescapable quagmire; to them I say, not only is your history wrong regarding the condition of Vietnam after twenty-six months of American engagement, but your impression of what is happening on the ground in Iraq is poorly informed. In Iraq, we have captured or killed thousands of our most dangerous enemies in the world; in Iraq, we have gotten past an installed temporary government which has been replaced by a freely elected government after 8 million Iraqis stood up to the terrorist threat and voted on January 31; in Iraq, we now have a legislature which is putting together a constitution, which will govern Iraq for the first time in its 5,000 year history; in Iraq, we are in the proces. . . In Vietnam, 40 years later, there is STILL not . . ." And so on. You get the idea.

The point is, I believe he articulated his case (again) and layed out the rationale and roadmap (again); but by failing to directly engage the critics of the war and its execution, he left a lot of room for them to continue banging the drum. Probably a missed opportunity.
Posted by: Michael / 6/29/2005 12:35:00 AM

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