"Victory with Honor"

President Bush had perhaps the shining moment of his Presidency last night, according to the national media. In his Oval Office address, the President showed humility and flexibility about the Iraq war mission. The President also laid out for the American people what he believes is at stake in Iraq. The President also reached out to his critics, which for this administration was a landmark moment. While the speech delivery was outstanding and the rhetoric lofty, the reality on the ground in Iraq and in the Middle East does not reconcile with the President’s delusional optimism. The United States, in forcing Democracy on the manufactured nation of Iraq is in fact undermining American security interests in the region as we have stated previously on this website. Moreover, the causality rates for American servicemen will not go down until American troops withdraw. As was the case in the Balkans prior World War I, foreign interference created a powder keg that has exploded. In Former President Richard Nixon’s book, “No More Vietnam’s” a case is made that America should never again get involved in a civil war where nationalism and ethnic strife is evident.  Yet, both President Clinton is Kosovo and President Bush in Iraq ignored this valuable advice. The difference between the two wars however, was that in Kosovo, the United States acted as part of a coalition with all of the major European powers to solve a problem in a region where World War I began. Moreover, Slobodan Milosevic was one of the most tyrannical dictators of the 20th Century, and the US did not take a serious number of causalities in the war due to excellent war planning and execution. Unlike the well executed war in Kosovo, the Bush led war in Iraq, not only ignored the advice of our strategic partners in Europe, but involved American ground troops, perhaps in their most vulnerable position since Korea.

Despite the nice presentation and excellent stagecraft, last night the President failed to address the overriding mission in Iraq and how it affects America’s position in the geopolitical arena. While the President conceded some ground to his critics in his speech, one can only guess that attack dogs Dick Cheney and Bill Frist will be out attacking war opponents once again as anti-American and pro-terrorist. It is the responsibility of this President to reign in his attack dogs if he wants yesterday’s speech to mark a new beginning in discourse and not just another blip on the radar screen in a failed war effort.