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I just finished watching Bush’s speech on the Iraqi war tonight. As a Toastmaster I thought it was a good speech. It was mercifully short and I think he highlighted the points I think he should have. I think the best part of it was it’s frankness on how the war is going and the problems we have experienced during the war.
I’m sure his critics will find much to criticize. I never ceased to be amazed at how one politician can criticize another and make it sound reasonable. I wonder how much training it takes to learn how to do that on the fly. I’ll bet they would all make good con men.
Readers of this blog should know I support what we are doing in Iraq and I welcome Bush’s attempt to rebuild support for the war. If we can build some kind of democracy in Iraq (not a sure thing), it will be the ONLY democracy in the Arab world. Our invasion of Iraq has already born fruit. Syria has retreated from Lebanon and Libya has avowed all support for WMD and invited the west into inspect its WMD efforts. Also women are voting in Saudi Arabia and there are groups in Egypt that weren’t there before.
If one just listens to the mainstream media all one gets is how badly things are going. The mainstream media doesn’t want Bush to look good and they will do what they can to make him look bad.
UPDATE: Glen Reynolds over at Instapundit says of Bush's speech.
BUSH DOUBLES DOWN: I just watched Bush's speech. Nothing new there for anyone who's been paying attention to the speeches he's been giving over the past couple of weeks. But one big thing struck me: In this national televised speech, Bush went out of his way to take responsibility for the war. He repeatedly talked about "my decision to invade Iraq," even though, of course, it was also Congress's decision. He made very clear that, ultimately, this was his war, and the decisions were his.Posted by The Vorlon at December 18, 2005 9:24 PMWhy did he do that? Because he thinks we're winning, and he wants credit. By November 2006, and especially November 2008, he thinks that'll be obvious, and he wants to lay down his marker now on what he believed -- and what the other side did. That's my guess, anyway.