Hello? Reid? Dumbass Leftinistra?

President Bush vetoed, as he warned, the over expansion of a fatally flawed and ignorant bill which would do more damage than good. This sad attempt of federalized health care cannot and will not stand.

Are you paying attention?

I heard Reid whine today that all anyone has to do is read the bill and see what it does. Most of have read some of it. Others have read ALL of it. Have YOU, "mister" ReidCo?

Message to the House of Representatives
TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:

I am returning herewith without my approval H.R. 976, the "Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007," because this legislation would move health care in this country in the wrong direction.

The original purpose of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) was to help children whose families cannot afford private health insurance, but do not qualify for Medicaid, to get the coverage they need. My Administration strongly supports reauthorization of SCHIP. That is why I proposed last February a 20 percent increase in funding for the program over 5 years.

This bill would shift SCHIP away from its original purpose and turn it into a program that would cover children from some families of four earning almost $83,000 a year. In addition, under this bill, government coverage would displace private health insurance for many children. If this bill were enacted, one out of every three children moving onto government coverage would be moving from private coverage. The bill also does not fully fund all its new spending, obscuring the true cost of the bill's expansion of SCHIP, and it raises taxes on working Americans.

Because the Congress has chosen to send me a bill that moves our health care system in the wrong direction, I must veto it. I hope we can now work together to produce a good bill that puts poorer children first, that moves adults out of a program meant for children, and that does not abandon the bipartisan tradition that marked the enactment of SCHIP. Our goal should be to move children who have no health insurance to private coverage, not to move children who already have private health insurance to government coverage.

GEORGE W. BUSH
THE WHITE HOUSE
October 3, 2007.

Thank you President Bush for exposing the ignorance and the damaging rhetoric of the Leftinistra.

Catch the wave

I wonder what else the Leftinistra will fail at next, seeing that they are so vested in failure. They must be pretty happy with themselves. I am.

Bush : Iran: Obligation to Act

Opinion Journal has an excellent article chronicling President Bush's warnings to Iran and his failure to take effective action. Here is their concluding paragraph.[Emphasis added.]

The Bush Presidency is running out of time to act if it wants to stop Iran from gaining a bomb. With GIs fighting and dying in Iraq, Mr. Bush also owes it to them not to allow enemy sanctuaries or weapons pipelines from Iran. If the President believes half of what he and his Administration have said about Iran's behavior, he has an obligation to do whatever it takes to stop it.

Please read the entire article and email the last paragraph and its url to comments@whitehouse.gov as I have done. Its the least you can do in support of our troops.

President Bush Conducts a Media Coupe!

President Bush secretly (must not have informed the NY Slimes) traveled to Iraq, specifically, to Anbar Province, the Shining Example of the successes in Iraq.

Click the link to catch the buzz. The KOSmonoffs are whining about it...poor trolls.

This could be just the beginning of several September surprises.

Some are saying and, I agree, that this is the first shot across the bow to the Defeatocrats.

GWB said that he has more moral fortitude than those that live their lives by the political polls and some journalist's opinion...paraphrase mine...and yes, I listened to GWB as he addressed The Troops in Al Anbar.

As usual, California Yankee has something to say.


ONWARD TO VICTORY!! HOOAH?

Update(s):

President Bush has said this many times and it is why this yammering about troop withdrawals is really a political football (with no air) being played out by the loser mentality of the Leftinistra.

US President George Bush says he's been told the security situation in Iraq can be maintained even with fewer troops. He was speaking on a surprise visit to Anbar province in Iraq. Bush said any move to reduce forces' levels would be based on solely military grounds. He addressed troops after meeting General David Petraeus, the commander of US troops in Iraq, for a final review of the war before a showdown in Congress over the number of soldiers serving in Iraq.

For the Leftinistra to "demand" troop draw-downs is actually funny...sad...but still funny.

Sept. 3 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush said the U.S. may be able to bring some troops home from Iraq if progress being made in stabilizing Anbar province, once a center of insurgency, can be replicated throughout the country.

Bush, who made a surprise visit to Iraq today, said after meeting with Iraqi political leaders and U.S. military commanders that Iraqis living in the region west of Baghdad are taking more responsibility for their own security.

``If the kind of success we are seeing continues, it will be possible to maintain the same level of security with fewer American forces,'' Bush said at the al-Asad Air Base.

No surprises here. All one has to do is actually READ the President's speeches and press releases and the plethora of videos from as far back as 2004.

Let the whining begin...this cracks me up...

But the president, flanked by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, did not say how many troops could be withdrawn or how soon.

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!! The President won't tell us everything! Some people's kids.

And more good news surely to depress the Leftinistra:

BAGHDAD - Iraq's prime minister said Monday he expects the U.S. ambassador and military commander to give his government favorable marks when they report to Congress next week and predicted passage of a law soon that could return more Sunnis to government jobs.

The speech was short and sweet and if I can get the right electrons to cooperate I will post the audio.

"People shouldn't jump to conclusions until the general and the ambassador report," Bush said.

During a rally later for more than 600 American troops at the base, Bush warned members of Congress who might be anticipating quick reductions in U.S. forces.

"Those decisions will be based on a calm assessment by our military commanders on the conditions on the ground, not reaction by Washington politicians to poll results in the media," said Bush. "In other words, when we begin to draw down troops from Iraq, it will be from a position of strength and success, not from the position of fear and failure."

Praising the troops, Bush said, "every day you show bravery under incredibly difficult circumstances. I'm incredibly proud to be the commander in chief of such a great group of men and women."

The excited crowd responded to their commander-in-chief with hearty cheers and shouts of "ooh-rah!" and "hoo-ah!"

In the above quote, certain words are missing. Did you notice them? I did. Behold...compare the above to this:

"Those decisions will be based on a calm assessment by our military commanders on the conditions on the ground, not a nervous reaction by Washington politicians to poll results in the media," said Mr Bush, addressing troops at the base on the US Labor Day holiday.

"In other words when we begin to draw down troops from Iraq it will be from a position of strength and success, not from a position of fear and failure."

Mr. Bush told reporters after talks with Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq, and Ryan C. Crocker, the ambassador to Iraq, that they “tell me that if the kind of success we are now seeing here continues, it will be possible to maintain the same level of security with fewer American forces.”

“I urge members of both parties in Congress to listen to what they have to say,” the president said. “Congress shouldn’t jump to conclusions until the general and the ambassador report.”

Speaking to the troops at the base, Mr. Bush emphasized that any decisions about troops levels would be made free of political pressure.

HOOAH? HOOAH!!

Dallas Morning News has a good read here

Another EXCELLENT Speech by GWB

Why the President doesn't do this more often is beyond me. Perhaps now he realizes that HIS gloves need to come off as well ands Join The Band.


President Bush Addresses the 89th Annual National Convention of the American Legion
Reno-Sparks Convention Center
Reno, Nevada

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
August 28, 2007

10:14 A.M. PDT

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much. (Applause.) Thank you all. Please be seated. Commander, thank you very much for the invitation to come. I'm honored to be here. I'm honored to represent Post 77 of Houston, Texas. (Applause.) I hope my fellow Texans behave themselves here in Reno. (Laughter.) You won't? Okay, well -- (Laughter.)

I appreciate the fact that nearly every community in America has been enriched by the American Legion and the Women's Auxiliary. I appreciate the work that you do to remind our citizens about the blessings of America. You have the profound gratitude of the President and the people of this country. Thank you for your service. (Applause.)

I particularly appreciate the work you do with our country's young. I like the fact that you have a oratorical competition that, according to your organization, helps Americans communicate their ideas clearly and effectively. Paul suggested I might want to sign up. (Laughter and applause.) I appreciate the fact that through Boys and Girls Nation you teach young people who are interested in public service about how Washington really works. (Laughter.) I'm not there. (Laughter and applause.)

We meet today at a critical time for our country. America is engaged in a great ideological struggle -- fighting Islamic extremists across the globe. Today I want to talk to you and to the American people about a key aspect of the struggle: the fight for the future of the Middle East. I'm going to explain why defeating the extremists in this troubled region is essential to our nation's security, and why success in Iraq is vital to winning this larger ideological battle. (Applause.)

I do want to thank your Commander. It's been my pleasure to work with Paul. He's been in the White House a lot, along with the Executive Director, John Sommer. He's represented you well, and he's served with distinction. (Applause.)

I thank JoAnn Cronin, the National President of the American Legion Auxiliary. I appreciate Bob Spanogle, the National Adjutant of the American Legion. I want to welcome the Governor of the great state of Nevada with us today -- Governor Jim Gibbons is with us. Mr. Governor, thanks for coming. (Applause.) The Congressman from this district is the fine representative named Dean Heller. His wife Lynne sang the National Anthem. Thank you both for being here today. (Applause.)

I'm honored to be in the presence of those who wear our nation's uniform. I thank General Charles Campbell, Commanding General U.S. Army Forces Command, for joining us. Major General Gale Pollock, Acting Surgeon General of the U.S. Army. And for all those who wear the uniform, thank you for volunteering to defend this nation in a time of peril. I'm proud to be your Commander-in-Chief. (Applause.)

For nearly a century, Presidents have looked to the American Legion to provide an example of vision, valor, and love of country. In times of peace, you counseled vigilance. In times of war, you counseled resolve. And in every era, you have carried the well-being of our men and women in uniform in your prayers and in your hearts. We're grateful to your service.

You have an appreciation for how special America is because you have defended her. You know how fragile freedom is because you have seen it under attack. And you know the pain of war because you have lost friends and family members on distant shores -- including those whose fates are still unknown. We must not, and we will not, end our search until we have accounted for every member of our Armed Forces from every war and every corner of the Earth. (Applause.)

I appreciate your efforts to honor the American flag. There are those who say the flag is just a piece of cloth. That's not the view of those who bled for it and saw it drape the caskets of some of our finest men and women. It was the American flag that we planted proudly on Iwo Jima, that first graced the silver surface of the moon. The country is careful to protect many things because of what they symbolize. Surely we can find a way to show equal respect for the symbol that our soldiers and sailors and airmen and Marines and Coast Guard's men and women have risked their lives for -- the flag of our nation. So today I join the Legion in calling on the United States Congress to make protection of the flag the law of our land. (Applause.)

I also thank you for your strong support of our nation's veterans. We share a common goal: to make sure our veterans have all the help they need. (Applause.) We have worked together to achieve that goal. The budget this year that I submitted is nearly $87 billion for our veterans. That's a 77-percent increase since I took office. It is the highest level of support for veterans in America's history. (Applause.)

I know health care is a concern of yours, and that's why we've extended treatment to a million additional veterans, including hundreds of thousands of men and women returning from Afghanistan and Iraq. We're building new VA facilities in places where veterans are returning [sic] so more veterans can get top-quality health care closer to your home. We've expanded grants to help homeless veterans in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. My point is this: The veterans were there when we needed them -- and this administration will be with the veterans when they need us. (Applause.)

Perhaps the most important duty that Legion members undertake is to serve as living reminders that a great country has great responsibilities. Once again, America finds itself a nation at war. Once again, we're called to assume the mantle of global leadership. And once again, the American Legion is walking point. I thank you for your fervent and enthusiastic defense of our men and women in uniform as they take the fight to the enemy in Afghanistan, in Iraq, and across the world. They're the finest military on Earth -- and we are right to be proud of them. (Applause.)

Many people in this country are asking whether the fight underway today is worth it. This is not the first time Americans have asked that question. We always enter wars reluctantly -- yet we have fought whenever dangers came. We fought when turmoil in Europe threatened to shroud the world in darkness. America sent its military to fight two bitter and bloody conflicts -- we did what we had to do to get the job done. We fought when powers in Asia attacked our country and our allies. We sent Americans to restore the peace -- and we did what we had to do to get the job done. And we responded when radicals and extremists attacked our homeland in the first ideological war of the 21st century. We toppled two regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq that gave harbor to terrorists, defied the international community, and threatened the security of our nation. And now we're working to help build free and secure societies in their place -- and like the past, we will do what we have to do to get the job done. (Applause.)

We've learned from history that dangers in other parts of the world -- such as Europe and Asia -- directly affect our security here at home. On September the 11th, 2001, we learned that there's another region of the world that directly threatens the security of the American people -- and that is the Middle East. America has enduring and vital interests in the region. Throughout our history, the American people have had strong links with this region -- through ties of commerce and education and faith. Long before oil and gas were discovered in the Middle East the region was a key source of trade. It is the home to three of the world's great religions. It remains a strategic crossroads for the world.

Yet the hope and prosperity that transformed other parts of the world in the 20th century has bypassed too many in the Middle East. For too long, the world was content to ignore forms of government in this region -- in the name of stability. The result was that a generation of young people grew up with little hope to improve their lives, and many fell under the sway of violent Islamic extremism. The terrorist movement multiplied in strength, and bitterness that had simmered for years boiled into violence across the world. The cradle of civilization became the home of the suicide bomber. And resentments that began on the streets of the Middle East are now killing innocent people in train stations and airplanes and office buildings around the world.

The murderers and beheaders are not the true face of Islam; they are the face of evil. They seek to exploit religion as a path to power and a means to dominate the Middle East. The violent Islamic radicalism that inspires them has two main strains. One is Sunni extremism, embodied by al Qaida and its terrorist allies. Their organization advances a vision that rejects tolerance, crushes all dissent, and justifies the murder of innocent men, women, and children in the pursuit of political power. We saw this vision in the brutal rule of the Taliban in Afghanistan, where women were publicly whipped, men were beaten for missing prayer meetings, and young girls could not go to school.

These extremists hope to impose that same dark vision across the Middle East by raising up a violent and radical caliphate that spans from Spain to Indonesia. So they kill fellow Muslims in places like Algeria and Jordan and Egypt and Saudi Arabia in an attempt to undermine their governments. And they kill Americans because they know we stand in their way. And that is why they attacked U.S. embassies in Africa in 1998, and killed sailors aboard the USS Cole in 2001 [sic]. And that is why they killed nearly 3,000 people on 9/11. And that is why they plot to attack us again. And that is why we must stay in the fight until the fight is won. (Applause.)

The other strain of radicalism in the Middle East is Shia extremism, supported and embodied by the regime that sits in Tehran. Iran has long been a source of trouble in the region. It is the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism. Iran backs Hezbollah who are trying to undermine the democratic government of Lebanon. Iran funds terrorist groups like Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which murder the innocent, and target Israel, and destabilize the Palestinian territories. Iran is sending arms to the Taliban in Afghanistan, which could be used to attack American and NATO troops. Iran has arrested visiting American scholars who have committed no crimes and pose no threat to their regime. And Iran's active pursuit of technology that could lead to nuclear weapons threatens to put a region already known for instability and violence under the shadow of a nuclear holocaust.

Iran's actions threaten the security of nations everywhere. And that is why the United States is rallying friends and allies around the world to isolate the regime, to impose economic sanctions. We will confront this danger before it is too late. (Applause.)

I want our fellow citizens to consider what would happen if these forces of radicalism and extremism are allowed to drive us out of the Middle East. The region would be dramatically transformed in a way that could imperil the civilized world. Extremists of all strains would be emboldened by the knowledge that they forced America to retreat. Terrorists could have more safe havens to conduct attacks on Americans and our friends and allies. Iran could conclude that we were weak -- and could not stop them from gaining nuclear weapons. And once Iran had nuclear weapons, it would set off a nuclear arms race in the region.

Extremists would control a key part of the world's energy supply, could blackmail and sabotage the global economy. They could use billions of dollars of oil revenues to buy weapons and pursue their deadly ambitions. Our allies in the region would be under greater siege by the enemies of freedom. Early movements toward democracy in the region would be violently reversed. This scenario would be a disaster for the people of the Middle East, a danger to our friends and allies, and a direct threat to American peace and security. This is what the extremists plan. For the sake of our own security, we'll pursue our enemies, we'll persevere and we will prevail. (Applause.)

In the short-term, we're using all elements of American power to protect the American people by taking the fight to the enemy. Our troops are carrying out operations day by day to bring the terrorists to justice. We're keeping the pressure on them. We're forcing them to move. Our law enforcement and intelligence professionals are working to cut off terrorist financing and disrupt their networks. Our diplomats are rallying our friends and allies throughout the region to share intelligence and to tighten security and to rout out the extremists hiding in their midst. Every day we work to protect the American people. Our strategy is this: We will fight them over there so we do not have to face them in the United States of America. (Applause.)

In the long-term, we are advancing freedom and liberty as the alternative to the ideologies of hatred and repression. We seek a Middle East of secure democratic states that are at peace with one another, that are participating in the global markets, and that are partners in this fight against the extremists and radicals. We seek to dry up the stream of recruits for al Qaeda and other extremists by helping nations offer their people a path to a more hopeful future. We seek an Iran whose government is accountable to its people -- instead of to leaders who promote terror and pursue the technology that could be used to develop nuclear weapons. We seek to advance a two-state solution for the Israelis and Palestinians so they can live side by side in peace and security. We seek justice and dignity and human rights for all the people of the Middle East.

Achieving this future requires hard work and strategic patience over many years. Yet our security depends on it. We have done this kind of work before in Europe. We have done this kind of work before in Japan. We have done this kind of work before -- and it can be done again. (Applause.)

The future course of the Middle East will turn heavily on the outcome of the fight in Iraq. Iraq is at the heart of the Middle East. And the two dangerous strains of extremism vying for control of the Middle East have now closed in on this country in an effort to bring down the young democracy.

In Iraq, Sunni extremists, led by al Qaeda, are staging sensational attacks on innocent men, women, and children in an attempt to stoke sectarian violence. Their operatives have assassinated those seeking to build a new future for the Iraqi people. Their targets include everyone they consider infidels -- including Christians and Jews and Yezidis and Shia, and even fellow Sunnis who do not share their radical distortion of Islam. Their ranks include foreign fighters who travel to Iraq through Syria. Their operations seek to create images of chaos and carnage to break the will of the American people. These killers don't understand our country. America does not give in to thugs and assassins -- and America will not abandon Iraq in its hour of need. (Applause.)

Shia extremists, backed by Iran, are training Iraqis to carry out attacks on our forces and the Iraqi people. Members of the Qods Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps are supplying extremist groups with funding and weapons, including sophisticated IEDs. And with the assistance of Hezbollah, they've provided training for these violent forces inside of Iraq. Recently, coalition forces seized 240-millimeter rockets that had been manufactured in Iran this year and that had been provided to Iraqi extremist groups by Iranian agents. The attacks on our bases and our troops by Iranian-supplied munitions have increased in the last few months -- despite pledges by Iran to help stabilize the security situation in Iraq.

Some say Iran's leaders are not aware of what members of their own regime are doing. Others say Iran's leaders are actively seeking to provoke the West. Either way, they cannot escape responsibility for aiding attacks against coalition forces and the murder of innocent Iraqis. The Iranian regime must halt these actions. And until it does, I will take actions necessary to protect our troops. I have authorized our military commanders in Iraq to confront Tehran's murderous activities. (Applause.)

For all those who ask whether the fight in Iraq is worth it, imagine an Iraq where militia groups backed by Iran control large parts of the country. Imagine an Iraq where al Qaeda has established sanctuaries to safely plot future attacks on targets all over the world, including America. We've seen what these enemies will do when American forces are actively engaged in Iraq. And we can envision what they would do if we -- if they were emboldened by American forces in retreat.

The challenge in Iraq comes down to this: Either the forces of extremism succeed, or the forces of freedom succeed. Either our enemies advance their interests in Iraq, or we advance our interests. The most important and immediate way to counter the ambitions of al Qaeda and Iran and other forces of instability and terror is to win the fight in Iraq. (Applause.)

Together our coalition has achieved great things in Iraq. We toppled one of the world's most brutal and dangerous dictators. This world is better off without Saddam Hussein in power. (Applause.) The Iraqi people held three national elections, choosing a transitional government, adopting the most progressive and democratic constitution in the Arab world, and then electing a government under that constitution. Despite endless threats from the car bombers and assassins, nearly 12 million Iraqi citizens came out to vote in a show of hope and solidarity that we should never forget.

In 2006, a thinking enemy struck back. The extremists provoked a level of sectarian violence that threatened to unravel the democratic gains the Iraqi people had made. Momentum was shifting to the extremists. The Iraqi people saw that their government could not protect them, or deliver basic services. Many Shia turned to militias for security. Many Sunnis did not see a place for them in the new Iraq. Baghdad was descending into chaos. And one of our military intelligence analysts wrote that Anbar Province -- al Qaeda's base in Iraq -- was lost to the enemy.

Given the stakes in Iraq, given the fact that what happens in Iraq matters in the United States, it became clear that we needed to adjust our approach to address these changes on the ground. So in January, I laid out a new strategy. This strategy was designed to help bring security to the Iraqi population, especially in Baghdad. It was designed to help clear the terrorists out of Iraqi cities and communities so that local governments could retake control, resume basic services, and help revive businesses in their communities. It was designed to give the Iraqi security forces time to grow in size and capability so that they can ultimately bring security to their country. It was designed to provide a secure environment in which national reconciliation could take place. And it was designed to encourage more members of the international community to recognize their interest in a free and democratic Iraq -- and to do more to help make that possible.

The central objective of this strategy was to aid the rise of an Iraqi government that can protect its people, deliver basic services, and be an ally in this war on terror. And we understood that none of these goals could be met until the Iraqi people feel safer in their own homes and neighborhoods.

To carry out this new strategy I sent reinforcements to Baghdad and Anbar Province. I put a new commander in place -- General David Petraeus, an expert on counterinsurgency. Those reinforcements have been fully operational for just over two months. Yet there are unmistakable signs that our strategy is achieving the objectives we set out. Our new strategy is showing results in terms of security. Our forces are in the fight all over Iraq. Since January, each month we have captured or killed an average of more than 1,500 al Qaeda terrorists and other enemies of Iraq's elected government. (Applause.) Al Qaeda is being displaced from former strongholds in Baghdad and Anbar and Diyala provinces.

We've conducted operations against Iranian agents supplying lethal munitions to extremist groups. We've targeted Shia death squads and their supply networks. The Prime Minister of Iraq, Prime Minister Maliki, has courageously committed to pursue the forces of evil and destruction. Sectarian violence has sharply decreased in Baghdad. The momentum is now on our side. The surge is seizing the initiative from the enemy -- and handing it to the Iraqi people.

Our new strategy is also showing results in places where it matters most -- the cities and neighborhoods where ordinary Iraqis live. In these areas, Iraqis are increasingly reaching accommodations with each other, with the coalition, and with the government in Baghdad. This reconciliation is coming from the bottom up. It's having an impact in the fight against the enemy and it's building a solid foundation for a democratic Iraq.

In Anbar, the province that had been thought to be lost to the enemy, is increasingly becoming more peaceful because members of local Sunnis are turning against al Qaeda. They're sick and tired of the dark vision of these murderers. Local sheikhs have joined the American forces to drive the terrorists out of the capital city of Ramadi and elsewhere. Residents are providing critical intelligence, and tribesmen have joined the Iraqi police and security forces.

People want to live in peace. Mothers want to raise their children in a peaceful environment. The local Iraqis, given a chance, are turning against these murderers and extremists. (Applause.)

Many Iraqis who once felt marginalized in a free Iraq are rejoining the political process, and now it's the enemy of a free Iraq that is being left on the margins. Last month, provincial officials reopened parts of the war-damaged government center with the help of one of our provincial reconstruction teams. Similar scenes are taking place all across Anbar, the province once thought lost. Virtually every city and every town in the province now has a mayor and a municipal council. Local officials are forming ties with the central government in Baghdad because these Sunni leaders now see a role for their people in a new Iraq. And in an encouraging sign, the central government is beginning to respond with funding for vital services and reconstruction, and increased security forces.

In other provinces, there are also signs of this kind of bottom-up progress. In Diyala Province, the city of Baqubah reopened six banks, providing residents with capital for the local economy. In Ninewa Province, local officials have established a commission to investigate corruption, with a local judge empowered to pursue charges of fraud and racketeering. These are signs that our strategy to encourage political cooperation at the grassroots level is working. And over time, see, and over time, as the Iraqis take control over their lives at the local level, they will demand more action from their national leaders in Baghdad. That's how democracy works. And that's why the encouraging developments at the local level are so important for Iraq's future.

At the moment, our new strategy is showing fewer results at the national level. Iraq is overcoming decades of tyranny and deprivation, which left scars on Iraq's people and their psyche. The serious sectarian violence of 2006 and early 2007 further tore at the fabric of Iraqi society, increasing distrust between Iraq's ethnic and religious communities. In the midst of the security challenges, Iraq's leaders are being asked to resolve political issues as complex and emotional as the struggle for civil rights in our own country. So it is no wonder that progress is halting, and people are often frustrated. The result is that it has been harder than anticipated for Iraqis to meet the legislative benchmarks on which we have all been focused.

In my weekly consultations with Ambassador Crocker we discuss these challenges. We also discuss the signs of hope. We're encouraged by the agreement reached Sunday night by the top leaders in Iraq's government. They agree on several draft pieces of legislation that are at the core of national reconciliation -- and are among the benchmarks identified by the United States Congress. For example, the draft law on de-Baathification reform addresses the question of how Iraqis will deal with their past. The draft legislation on provincial powers tackles how Iraqis will map out their future. These measures still have to be passed by the Iraqi parliament. Yet the agreement shows that Iraq's leaders can put aside their differences, they can sit down together, and they can work out tough issues central to the fate of their country.

The agreement by Iraq's leaders was significant for another reason. It thanks the coalition for our sacrifices, and recognizes the importance of maintaining a coalition presence in Iraq. It also calls for the development of a long-term relationship with the United States. I welcome this invitation. I've committed our government to negotiating such a partnership soon. This long-term relationship need not require the level of engagement that we have in Iraq today. But it can serve the common interests of both Iraq and the United States -- to combat terrorism, and to help bring stability to an important country and region.

Iraq's government still has more work to do to meet many of its legislative benchmarks. Yet it's also important to note that many of the goals behind these benchmarks are being achieved without legislation. Here's an example: We believed that an equitable sharing of oil revenues would require the Iraqi parliament to pass an oil-sharing law. In fact, the national government is already sharing oil revenues with the provinces -- despite the fact that no formal law has been passed. Iraq's government is making gains in other important areas. Electricity production is improving. The parliament has passed about 60 pieces of legislation, including a $41-billion budget. Despite the slow progress in the Iraqi parliament -- here's the evidence -- Iraq as a whole is moving forward.

Our strategy is also showing results at the international level. The United Nations and Iraq -- with support from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and nations from around the globe -- have finalized an International Compact for Iraq that will bring new economic assistance and debt relief in exchange for aggressive economic reforms. So far, the Iraqis have made significant progress in meeting the IMF's economic benchmarks. The Iraqis have convened a Neighbors Conference that's bringing together nations in the region. The goal is to help the Iraqis through specific security and economic and diplomatic cooperation.

As part of these diplomatic initiatives, Prime Minister Maliki has met with counterparts in Turkey, Syria, and Iran to urge the support for his nation. Saudi Arabia is looking to open a new embassy in Baghdad. The United Nations Security Council has decided to expand its mission in Iraq, and is seeking to help with local elections and reconciliation. The United Nations will soon name a new high-ranking envoy to Iraq, to coordinate the UN's expanded effort to that country. Here's what I'm telling you -- the international community increasingly understands the importance of a free Iraq. They understand a free Iraq is important for world peace. And that is why we'll continue to rally the world for this noble and necessary cause. (Applause.)

All these developments are hopeful -- they're hopeful for Iraq, and they're hopeful for the Middle East, and they're hopeful for peace. In two weeks, General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker will return to Washington to deliver an interim assessment of the situation on the ground and the prospects for the future. This status report comes less than three months after the surge became fully operational. It will likely assess what's going well in Iraq, and what needs to be improved, and what changes we need to make in our strategy and force deployments in the months ahead. Congress asked for this assessment. Congress should listen to it in its entirety. And I ask members of the Congress to withhold any conclusions until they can hear these men out. (Applause.)

Unfortunately, some who had complained about a lack of security in Iraq are now attempting to change the terms of the debate. Their argument used to be that security was bad, so the surge has failed. Now their argument seems to be security is better, so the surge has failed. They disregard the political advances on the local level, and instead change -- charge that the slow pace of legislative progress on the national level proves our strategy has not worked. This argument gets it backwards. Improving security is the precondition for making gains in other areas.

Senator Joe Lieberman puts it this way: "While it is true there is no pure 'military' solution to the violence in Iraq, it is worth remembering that neither is there any pure 'political' solution." Security progress must come first. And only then can political progress follow -- first locally, and then in Baghdad. So it's going to take time for the recent progress we have seen in security to translate into political progress. In short, it makes no sense to respond to military progress by claiming that we have failed because Iraq's parliament has yet to pass every law it said it would.

The American people know how difficult democracy can be. Our own country has an advanced and sophisticated political system in place. Yet even we can't pass a budget on time -- and we've had 200 years of practice. (Applause.) Prime Minister Maliki and other Iraqi leaders are dealing with the issues far more controversial and complicated, and they are trying to do it all at once, after decades of a brutal dictatorship. Iraq's leaders aren't perfect. But they were elected by their people. They want what we want -- a free Iraq that fights terrorists instead of harboring them. And leaders in Washington need to look for ways to help our Iraqi allies succeed -- not excuses for abandoning them. (Applause.)

The challenge is before us -- the challenge before us is hard, but America can meet it. And the conflict has come at a cost, on behalf of a cause that is right and essential to the American people. It's a noble cause. It is a just cause. It is a necessary cause. I wouldn't have asked the young men and women of our military to go in harm's way if I didn't think success in Iraq was necessary for the security of the United States of America. (Applause.) I know it can be difficult to see sometimes, but what happens on the streets of Baghdad and in the neighborhoods of Anbar has a direct impact on the safety of Americans here at home. And that is why we're in this fight. And that's why we'll stay in the fight, and that is why we're going to win this fight. (Applause.)

One of the great blessings of this country is that our men and women in uniform understand it. One of those young men was Specialist First Class Stephen Davis of Fayetteville, North Carolina. Stephen came from a proud military family. His father and grandfather were veterans. His younger brother, his mother, and her father were all stationed with him in Iraq.

When Stephen was killed by an insurgent grenade on the Fourth of July, their hearts were broken. And yet, somehow this remarkable family found a way to put aside their grief and continue to serve our country. Stephen's mother said that Stephen was proud of what they were doing in Iraq -- so six days after the funeral, she went back on duty as a medic. His father, Buck, a Gulf War veteran, says he wants to go to Iraq today. This family represents the best of the American spirit -- a spirit that shows we have the grit and the will to defend the American people. (Applause.)

One day years from now, another president will be in a room like this. That president will look out upon a sea of caps worn by those who show a quiet pride in their service. Some in that audience will include people who won the fight against fascism and Nazism and communism. You'll be joined by younger veterans who have fought in places like Kandahar and Ramadi. And just like you, the new generation of veterans will be able to say proudly they held fast against determined and ruthless enemies, helped salvage an entire region from tyranny and terror, and made a safer world for the American people.

To those future members of the American Legion, and to all of you, I offer the gratitude of our nation, and offer my prayers for a future of peace. Thank you. And may God America. (Applause.)

END 10:59 A.M. PDT

Bush Slapped...And The "Other Siders" Blink, Again.

Today, 22 AUG 2007, President George W Bush, the 43rd President of the United States, delivered one of the most powerful speeches he has delivered to date. And, it is about time. The analogies presented were Spot On and all very apropos. Especially so was the analogy of the Vietnam Experience. GWB turned the rhetoric around and "Bush Slapped" the Reids, the Kerrys, the Pelosis and the Kennedys of the world.

If you will recall, the Defeatocrats ranted, railed and whined about how Iraq was going to be GWB's Vietnam. They drew parallels and comparisons to how Iraq and Vietnam were the same thing all over again.

Before the speech was delivered today, for some strange reason, a few "heads up" were "compassionately" handed out so the opposition could begin their spin. Why this is done is truly beyond reason. My tac is more along the lines of blind-siding the opposition. Keep them on the defensive.

Anyway, Reid, in his infinite stupidity and inability to keep his rhetorical ducks in a row, said this about the comparison to Iraq and Vietnam:

"President Bush's attempt to compare the war in Iraq to past military conflicts in East Asia ignores the fundamental difference between the two," Sen. Harry Reid, D-NV, contended.

Oh? Really? Why is it OK for the genre of ReidCo to make the comparison but no one else? Is there a viable explanation? Not hardly. RediCo and PelosiCo may not have it both ways. We in The New media will NOT allow them the tools and influence to do unto the current fighting forces as their parents and perhaps they did to our Vietnam Veterans. The re-enactment of that behavior is unacceptable, intolerable and will not be allowedd to grow roots. PERIOD.

Any questions?


Just for the sake of arguing, check out the wailing and the gnashing of teeth over the Bush Slapping of the Defeat Caucus in today's speech:

News results for Iraq Bush's Vietnam

Canoe.ca

Bush's Vietnam lesson: stay in Iraq

Amazing, is it not? Can you not here the thousands of little tiny violins playing at the "closed-door" pity parties? Oh to be the fly on the wall. The Good Old Days...

The Conservative Tsunami is cresting...getting larger and larger, day by day. And, it shall swallow the defeatocrats of the Leftinistra, the Code Pinkos, The MoveOns, and the ANSWERs alike, whole. They shall be tossed and swept aside as the dross they are, with no cares or concerns of how they will fair the tsunami. Obscurity will be too good for them.

This was a very powerful and moving speech. I was pleased at the same time I was perplexed. Why does the President allow the opposition to go unimpeded for so long? Could it be that The Grand Strategist lets them feed themselves enough rope to hang themselves with at the "right" moment? One could only hope as much.

I wonder how John Kerry will be sleeping after getting Bush Slapped? Here is a video of John Kerry stating that there were no Killing Fields, contrary to known and historical fact. Click this link here.

Over at memeorandum, there is quite a buzz as well as a plethora of other locations. The defeatocrats have been Bush Slapped and this adds insult to injury to being Mitch Slapped on a regular basis.

Wake Up America

The Democrats in Congress have made many mistakes in the short time they have held the majority, one that stands out above the rest was Harry Reid, after having voted for General Petraeus to go to Iraq and take charge, voted overwhelmingly and unanimously, Harry Reid issues the statement, that "the surge is not accomplishing anything and Iraq is lost", having done this before the full compliment of troops had even arrived.

Right In A Left World

First, we had John ‘F’in Kerry, freshly home from his extremely abbreviated tour in Viet Nam and embroiled in anti-war movement, “testifying” before the Fulbright Commission with his call of, “They told the stories at times they had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam in addition to the normal ravage of war….,” followed by, “The country doesn't know it yet, but it has created a monster, a monster in the form of millions of men who have been taught to deal and to trade in violence…..,” ending with, “there will be some recrimination but far, far less than the 200,000 a year who are murdered by the United States of America…..”

In 1971, when Kerry told these fabrications of stories from mostly non-Veterans he associated with and had “testify” in the bogus “Winter Soldier Investigation followed by a very public chucking of what was claimed to be his medals earned combat, one could be left thinking that he wanted nothing to do with the Military any longer.

Black Tygrrrr Express

One of the many conundrums about liberalism is that it requires failure to be successful.

This goes beyond the War in Iraq, although that can be a starting point. It goes to the core of what liberalism is, that being a philosophy that requires problems and misery to survive.

Starting with the War in Iraq, liberals need the USA to lose in Iraq. I am not going to question the patriotism of American liberals. I am sure many of them truly believe that their solutions are noble. However, their view on Iraq is destructive.

The liberals love to say that this war is President Bush’s war. On this point, they are absolutely right. Therefore, if it succeeds, he will get the credit. Therefore, it needs to fail so he gets the blame. The problem with this strategy is that it sacrifices a chance at historical greatness for short term political gain. The democrats won in 2006, but what have they done since?

Conservative Thoughts

Bottom line is this: the Democrats use history in a vain attempt to alter public perception and change history. Regarding Stevens’ column, he conveniently fails to mention that the President looked at the same evidence regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction as President Clinton did, as well as the CIA, and SEVERAL foreign intelligence services.

Aubrey J

On Wednesday, President Bush said, "The greatest weapon in the arsenal of democracy is the desire for liberty written into the human heart by our Creator. So long as we remain true to our ideals, we will defeat the extremists in Iraq and Afghanistan. We will help those countries' peoples stand up functioning democracies in the heart of the broader Middle East. And when that hard work is done and the critics of today recede from memory, the cause of freedom will be stronger, a vital region will be brighter, and the American people will be safer."

I could go on and on like the EVEREADY Bunny...this speech will be the Buzz of The Town for months and months and months...about 18.

Washington Post:

Democrats Refocus Message on Iraq After Military Gains — Democratic leaders in Congress had planned to use August recess to raise the heat on Republicans to break with President Bush on the Iraq war. Instead, Democrats have been forced to recalibrate their own message in the face …

Link Search: Google, Ask, Technorati, Sphere, and IceRocket

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Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Washington Monthly, The Huffington Post, Firedoglake, Guardian, The Moderate Voice, Outside The Beltway, The Democratic Daily, Eschaton, Oliver Willis, Blue Crab Boulevard, Wake up America, The Swamp, Middle Earth Journal, Weekly Standard, MSNBC, Sister Toldjah, Gallup Poll, Redstate, ePluribus Media Community, Wizbang, Riehl World View, Liberty Pundit, NewsBusters.org, TIME: Swampland, Daily Kos, No More Mister Nice Blog, Say Anything, National Review, Jules Crittenden and CQPolitics.com

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Discussion:

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters: Democrats Miscalculate On Iraq

Kevin Drum / Washington Monthly: POLITICS....From the Washington Post today: … Italics mine.

RJ Eskow / The Huffington Post: The Surge Is Working ... On You

Christy Hardin Smith / Firedoglake: Shifting With The Winds?

Mark Tran / Guardian: Maliki the convenient scapegoat for frustrated US

Michael van der Galien / The Moderate Voice: Democrats Change Position on Iraq... Kind Of.

James Joyner / Outside The Beltway: Democrat - Republican Consensus on Iraq

Pamela Leavey / The Democratic Daily: The Media's Surge Spin

Atrios / Eschaton: Bash the Troops, Praise the President

Oliver Willis: Connect The Dots — Gallup: Approval rating for Congress matches lowest ever recorded

Gaius / Blue Crab Boulevard: Democrats On The Defensive — The Washington Post reports …

Spree / Wake up America: Democratic Merry Go Round on Defeat: MOVED

Frank James / The Swamp: GOP ads to press lawmakers to back Bush on war

Ron Beasley / Middle Earth Journal: What the Democrats should say about the Surge....

Brian Faughnan / Weekly Standard: Rahm Emanuel: Democrats are Immune to Facts in Iraq

Domenico Montanaro / MSNBC: Iraq — In previewing Bush's VFW speech today, USA Today …

Sister Toldjah: Thanks to Iraq successes, Democrats having to "refocus" their Iraq message

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup Poll: Congress Approval Rating Matches Historical Low

Redstate: Todays labored nautical metaphor (and bad filk!) …

ePluribus Media Community: Dems Distracted: Don't Demonstrate Discernment

Paul / Wizbang: The Recent History of Democrats on Iraq

Dan / Riehl World View: You Cannot "Desperately" Support The Troops

Brian / Liberty Pundit: Why Congress Is So Unpopular — Ol' Sock Puppet himself …

Matthew Sheffield / NewsBusters.org: Surge Success Causes Democrats to Recalibrate Iraq Strategy

Karen Tumulty / TIME: Swampland: Boy, was I wrong... As frequent Swampland commenter Cfaller96 loves …

Kagro X / Daily Kos: Where are we on Iraq? — You know and love Cheers & Jeers.

Steve M. / No More Mister Nice Blog: ELMER FUDD IS A DEMOCRAT

Rob / Say Anything: Democrats Forced To Change Their Tune On Iraq

National Review: Don't Let The Facts Get In The Way of a Good Accusation

Jules Crittenden: Advance to Rear — Having lost militarily, the Democrats fall …

Craig Crawford / CQPolitics.com: Craig Crawford's Trail Mix: Clinton Blurs the Battle Lines on Surge Politics

Remarks by the President at Veterans of Foreign Wars National Convention

Kansas City Convention and Entertainment Center Kansas City, Missouri

9:46 A.M. CDT, 22 OCT 2007

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Please be seated. It's good to be with you again. I understand you haven't had much of a problem attracting speakers. (Laughter.) I thank you for inviting me. I can understand why people want to come here. See, it's an honor to stand with the men and women of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. (Applause.) The VFW is one of this nation's finest organizations. You belong to an elite group of Americans. (Applause.) You belong to a group of people who have defended America overseas. You have fought in places from Normandy to Iwo Jima, to Pusan, to Khe Sahn, to Kuwait, to Somalia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq. You brought security to the American people; you brought hope to millions across the world.

As members of this proud organization, you are advocates for the rights of our military veterans, a model of community service, and a strong and important voice for a strong national defense. I thank you for your service. I thank you for what you've done for the United States of America. (Applause.)

I stand before you as a wartime President. I wish I didn't have to say that, but an enemy that attacked us on September the 11th, 2001, declared war on the United States of America. And war is what we're engaged in. The struggle has been called a clash of civilizations. In truth, it's a struggle for civilization. We fight for a free way of life against a new barbarism -- an ideology whose followers have killed thousands on American soil, and seek to kill again on even a greater scale.

We fight for the possibility that decent men and women across the broader Middle East can realize their destiny -- and raise up societies based on freedom and justice and personal dignity. And as long as I'm Commander-in-Chief we will fight to win. (Applause.) I'm confident that we will prevail. I'm confident we'll prevail because we have the greatest force for human liberation the world has ever known -- the men and women of the United States Armed Forces. (Applause.)

For those of you who wear the uniform, nothing makes me more proud to say that I am your Commander-in-Chief. Thank you for volunteering in the service of the United States of America. (Applause.)

Now, I know some people doubt the universal appeal of liberty, or worry that the Middle East isn't ready for it. Others believe that America's presence is destabilizing, and that if the United States would just leave a place like Iraq those who kill our troops or target civilians would no longer threaten us. Today I'm going to address these arguments. I'm going to describe why helping the young democracies of the Middle East stand up to violent Islamic extremists is the only realistic path to a safer world for the American people. I'm going to try to provide some historical perspective to show there is a precedent for the hard and necessary work we're doing, and why I have such confidence in the fact we'll be successful.

Before I do so I want to thank the national Commander-in-Chief of the VFW and his wife, Nancy. It's been a joy to work with Gary and the staff. Gary said, we don't necessarily agree a hundred percent of the time. I remember the old lieutenant governor of Texas -- a Democrat, and I was a Republican governor. He said, "Governor, if we agreed 100 percent of the time, one of us wouldn't be necessary." (Laughter.)

But here's what we do agree on: We agree our veterans deserve the full support of the United States government. (Applause.) That's why in this budget I submitted there's $87 billion for the veterans; it's the highest level of support ever for the veterans in American history. (Applause.) We agree that health care for our veterans is a top priority, and that's why we've increased health care spending for our veterans by 83 percent since I was sworn in as your President. (Applause.) We agree that a troop coming out of Iraq or Afghanistan deserves the best health care not only as an active duty citizen, but as a military guy, but also as a veteran -- and you're going to get the best health care we can possibly provide. (Applause.) We agree our homeless vets ought to have shelter, and that's what we're providing.

In other words, we agree the veterans deserve the full support of our government and that's what you're going to get as George W. Bush as your President. (Applause.)

I want to thank Bob Wallace, the Executive Director. He spends a lot of time in the Oval Office -- I'm always checking the silverware drawer. (Laughter.) He's going to be bringing in George Lisicki here soon. He's going to be the national commander-in-chief for my next year in office. And I'm looking forward to working with George, and I'm looking forward to working with Wallace, and I'm looking forward to hearing from you. They're going to find an open-minded President, dedicated to doing what's right. (Applause.)

I appreciate Linda Meader, the National President of the Ladies Auxiliary. She brought old Dave with her. (Applause.) Virginia Carman, the incoming President. I want to thank Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs Gordon Mansfield for joining us today. I appreciate the United States Senator from the state of Missouri, strong supporter of the military and strong supporter of the veterans, Kit Bond. (Applause.) Two members of the Congress have kindly showed up today -- I'm proud they're both here: Congressman Emanuel Cleaver -- no finer man, no more decent a fellow than Emanuel Cleaver -- is with us. And a great Congressman from right around the corner here, Congressman Sam Graves. Thank you all for coming. (Applause.)

Lieutenant General Jack Stultz, Commanding General, U.S. Army Reserve Command, is with us today. General, thanks for coming. Lieutenant General Bill Caldwell, Commanding General, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is with us today, as well. General Caldwell, thank you for your service. (Applause.)

Thank you all for letting me come by. I want to open today's speech with a story that begins on a sunny morning, when thousands of Americans were murdered in a surprise attack -- and our nation was propelled into a conflict that would take us to every corner of the globe.

The enemy who attacked us despises freedom, and harbors resentment at the slights he believes America and Western nations have inflicted on his people. He fights to establish his rule over an entire region. And over time, he turns to a strategy of suicide attacks destined to create so much carnage that the American people will tire of the violence and give up the fight.

If this story sounds familiar, it is -- except for one thing. The enemy I have just described is not al Qaeda, and the attack is not 9/11, and the empire is not the radical caliphate envisioned by Osama bin Laden. Instead, what I've described is the war machine of Imperial Japan in the 1940s, its surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, and its attempt to impose its empire throughout East Asia.

Ultimately, the United States prevailed in World War II, and we have fought two more land wars in Asia. And many in this hall were veterans of those campaigns. Yet even the most optimistic among you probably would not have foreseen that the Japanese would transform themselves into one of America's strongest and most steadfast allies, or that the South Koreans would recover from enemy invasion to raise up one of the world's most powerful economies, or that Asia would pull itself out of poverty and hopelessness as it embraced markets and freedom.

The lesson from Asia's development is that the heart's desire for liberty will not be denied. Once people even get a small taste of liberty, they're not going to rest until they're free. Today's dynamic and hopeful Asia -- a region that brings us countless benefits -- would not have been possible without America's presence and perseverance. It would not have been possible without the veterans in this hall today. And I thank you for your service. (Applause.)

There are many differences between the wars we fought in the Far East and the war on terror we're fighting today. But one important similarity is at their core they're ideological struggles. The militarists of Japan and the communists in Korea and Vietnam were driven by a merciless vision for the proper ordering of humanity. They killed Americans because we stood in the way of their attempt to force their ideology on others. Today, the names and places have changed, but the fundamental character of the struggle has not changed. Like our enemies in the past, the terrorists who wage war in Iraq and Afghanistan and other places seek to spread a political vision of their own -- a harsh plan for life that crushes freedom, tolerance, and dissent.

Like our enemies in the past, they kill Americans because we stand in their way of imposing this ideology across a vital region of the world. This enemy is dangerous; this enemy is determined; and this enemy will be defeated. (Applause.)

We're still in the early hours of the current ideological struggle, but we do know how the others ended -- and that knowledge helps guide our efforts today. The ideals and interests that led America to help the Japanese turn defeat into democracy are the same that lead us to remain engaged in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The defense strategy that refused to hand the South Koreans over to a totalitarian neighbor helped raise up a Asian Tiger that is the model for developing countries across the world, including the Middle East. The result of American sacrifice and perseverance in Asia is a freer, more prosperous and stable continent whose people want to live in peace with America, not attack America.

At the outset of World War II there were only two democracies in the Far East -- Australia and New Zealand. Today most of the nations in Asia are free, and its democracies reflect the diversity of the region. Some of these nations have constitutional monarchies, some have parliaments, and some have presidents. Some are Christian, some are Muslim, some are Hindu, and some are Buddhist. Yet for all the differences, the free nations of Asia all share one thing in common: Their governments derive their authority from the consent of the governed, and they desire to live in peace with their neighbors.

Along the way to this freer and more hopeful Asia, there were a lot of doubters. Many times in the decades that followed World War II, American policy in Asia was dismissed as hopeless and naive. And when we listen to criticism of the difficult work our generation is undertaking in the Middle East today, we can hear the echoes of the same arguments made about the Far East years ago.

In the aftermath of Japan's surrender, many thought it naive to help the Japanese transform themselves into a democracy. Then as now, the critics argued that some people were simply not fit for freedom.

Some said Japanese culture was inherently incompatible with democracy. Joseph Grew, a former United States ambassador to Japan who served as Harry Truman's Under Secretary of State, told the President flatly that -- and I quote -- "democracy in Japan would never work." He wasn't alone in that belief. A lot of Americans believed that -- and so did the Japanese -- a lot of Japanese believed the same thing: democracy simply wouldn't work.

Others critics said that Americans were imposing their ideals on the Japanese. For example, Japan's Vice Prime Minister asserted that allowing Japanese women to vote would "retard the progress of Japanese politics."

It's interesting what General MacArthur wrote in his memoirs. He wrote, "There was much criticism of my support for the enfranchisement of women. Many Americans, as well as many other so-called experts, expressed the view that Japanese women were too steeped in the tradition of subservience to their husbands to act with any degree of political independence." That's what General MacArthur observed. In the end, Japanese women were given the vote; 39 women won parliamentary seats in Japan's first free election. Today, Japan's minister of defense is a woman, and just last month, a record number of women were elected to Japan's Upper House. Other critics argued that democracy -- (applause.)

There are other critics, believe it or not, that argue that democracy could not succeed in Japan because the national religion -- Shinto -- was too fanatical and rooted in the Emperor. Senator Richard Russell denounced the Japanese faith, and said that if we did not put the Emperor on trial, "any steps we may take to create democracy are doomed to failure." The State Department's man in Tokyo put it bluntly: "The Emperor system must disappear if Japan is ever really to be democratic."

Those who said Shinto was incompatible with democracy were mistaken, and fortunately, Americans and Japanese leaders recognized it at the time, because instead of suppressing the Shinto faith, American authorities worked with the Japanese to institute religious freedom for all faiths. Instead of abolishing the imperial throne, Americans and Japanese worked together to find a place for the Emperor in the democratic political system.

And the result of all these steps was that every Japanese citizen gained freedom of religion, and the Emperor remained on his throne and Japanese democracy grew stronger because it embraced a cherished part of Japanese culture. And today, in defiance of the critics and the doubters and the skeptics, Japan retains its religions and cultural traditions, and stands as one of the world's great free societies. (Applause.)

You know, the experts sometimes get it wrong. An interesting observation, one historian put it -- he said, "Had these erstwhile experts" -- he was talking about people criticizing the efforts to help Japan realize the blessings of a free society -- he said, "Had these erstwhile experts had their way, the very notion of inducing a democratic revolution would have died of ridicule at an early stage."

Instead, I think it's important to look at what happened. A democratic Japan has brought peace and prosperity to its people. Its foreign trade and investment have helped jump-start the economies of others in the region. The alliance between our two nations is the lynchpin for freedom and stability throughout the Pacific. And I want you to listen carefully to this final point: Japan has transformed from America's enemy in the ideological struggle of the 20th century to one of America's strongest allies in the ideological struggle of the 21st century. (Applause.)

Critics also complained when America intervened to save South Korea from communist invasion. Then as now, the critics argued that the war was futile, that we should never have sent our troops in, or they argued that America's intervention was divisive here at home.

After the North Koreans crossed the 38th Parallel in 1950, President Harry Truman came to the defense of the South -- and found himself attacked from all sides. From the left, I.F. Stone wrote a book suggesting that the South Koreans were the real aggressors and that we had entered the war on a false pretext. From the right, Republicans vacillated. Initially, the leader of the Republican Party in the Senate endorsed Harry Truman's action, saying, "I welcome the indication of a more definite policy" -- he went on to say, "I strongly hope that having adopted it, the President may maintain it intact," then later said "it was a mistake originally to go into Korea because it meant a land war."

Throughout the war, the Republicans really never had a clear position. They never could decide whether they wanted the United States to withdraw from the war in Korea, or expand the war to the Chinese mainland. Others complained that our troops weren't getting the support from the government. One Republican senator said, the effort was just "bluff and bluster." He rejected calls to come together in a time of war, on the grounds that "we will not allow the cloak of national unity to be wrapped around horrible blunders."

Many in the press agreed. One columnist in The Washington Post said, "The fact is that the conduct of the Korean War has been shot through with errors great and small." A colleague wrote that "Korea is an open wound. It's bleeding and there's no cure for it in sight." He said that the American people could not understand "why Americans are doing about 95 percent of the fighting in Korea."

Many of these criticisms were offered as reasons for abandoning our commitments in Korea. And while it's true the Korean War had its share of challenges, the United States never broke its word.

Today, we see the result of a sacrifice of people in this room in the stark contrast of life on the Korean Peninsula. Without Americans' intervention during the war and our willingness to stick with the South Koreans after the war, millions of South Koreans would now be living under a brutal and repressive regime. The Soviets and Chinese communists would have learned the lesson that aggression pays. The world would be facing a more dangerous situation. The world would be less peaceful.

Instead, South Korea is a strong, democratic ally of the United States of America. South Korean troops are serving side-by-side with American forces in Afghanistan and in Iraq. And America can count on the free people of South Korea to be lasting partners in the ideological struggle we're facing in the beginning of the 21st century. (Applause.)

For those of you who served in Korea, thank you for your sacrifice, and thank you for your service. (Applause.)

Finally, there's Vietnam. This is a complex and painful subject for many Americans. The tragedy of Vietnam is too large to be contained in one speech. So I'm going to limit myself to one argument that has particular significance today. Then as now, people argued the real problem was America's presence and that if we would just withdraw, the killing would end.

The argument that America's presence in Indochina was dangerous had a long pedigree. In 1955, long before the United States had entered the war, Graham Greene wrote a novel called, "The Quiet American." It was set in Saigon, and the main character was a young government agent named Alden Pyle. He was a symbol of American purpose and patriotism -- and dangerous naivete. Another character describes Alden this way: "I never knew a man who had better motives for all the trouble he caused."

After America entered the Vietnam War, the Graham Greene argument gathered some steam. As a matter of fact, many argued that if we pulled out there would be no consequences for the Vietnamese people.

In 1972, one antiwar senator put it this way: "What earthly difference does it make to nomadic tribes or uneducated subsistence farmers in Vietnam or Cambodia or Laos, whether they have a military dictator, a royal prince or a socialist commissar in some distant capital that they've never seen and may never heard of?" A columnist for The New York Times wrote in a similar vein in 1975, just as Cambodia and Vietnam were falling to the communists: "It's difficult to imagine," he said, "how their lives could be anything but better with the Americans gone." A headline on that story, date Phnom Penh, summed up the argument: "Indochina without Americans: For Most a Better Life."

The world would learn just how costly these misimpressions would be. In Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge began a murderous rule in which hundreds of thousands of Cambodians died by starvation and torture and execution. In Vietnam, former allies of the United States and government workers and intellectuals and businessmen were sent off to prison camps, where tens of thousands perished. Hundreds of thousands more fled the country on rickety boats, many of them going to their graves in the South China Sea.

Three decades later, there is a legitimate debate about how we got into the Vietnam War and how we left. There's no debate in my mind that the veterans from Vietnam deserve the high praise of the United States of America. (Applause.) Whatever your position is on that debate, one unmistakable legacy of Vietnam is that the price of America's withdrawal was paid by millions of innocent citizens whose agonies would add to our vocabulary new terms like "boat people," "re-education camps," and "killing fields."

There was another price to our withdrawal from Vietnam, and we can hear it in the words of the enemy we face in today's struggle -- those who came to our soil and killed thousands of citizens on September the 11th, 2001. In an interview with a Pakistani newspaper after the 9/11 attacks, Osama bin Laden declared that "the American people had risen against their government's war in Vietnam. And they must do the same today."

His number two man, Zawahiri, has also invoked Vietnam. In a letter to al Qaeda's chief of operations in Iraq, Zawahiri pointed to "the aftermath of the collapse of the American power in Vietnam and how they ran and left their agents."

Zawahiri later returned to this theme, declaring that the Americans "know better than others that there is no hope in victory. The Vietnam specter is closing every outlet." Here at home, some can argue our withdrawal from Vietnam carried no price to American credibility -- but the terrorists see it differently.

We must remember the words of the enemy. We must listen to what they say. Bin Laden has declared that "the war [in Iraq] is for you or us to win. If we win it, it means your disgrace and defeat forever." Iraq is one of several fronts in the war on terror -- but it's the central front -- it's the central front for the enemy that attacked us and wants to attack us again. And it's the central front for the United States and to withdraw without getting the job done would be devastating. (Applause.)

If we were to abandon the Iraqi people, the terrorists would be emboldened, and use their victory to gain new recruits. As we saw on September the 11th, a terrorist safe haven on the other side of the world can bring death and destruction to the streets of our own cities. Unlike in Vietnam, if we withdraw before the job is done, this enemy will follow us home. And that is why, for the security of the United States of America, we must defeat them overseas so we do not face them in the United States of America. (Applause.)

Recently, two men who were on the opposite sides of the debate over the Vietnam War came together to write an article. One was a member of President Nixon's foreign policy team, and the other was a fierce critic of the Nixon administration's policies. Together they wrote that the consequences of an American defeat in Iraq would be disastrous.

Here's what they said: "Defeat would produce an explosion of euphoria among all the forces of Islamist extremism, throwing the entire Middle East into even greater upheaval. The likely human and strategic costs are appalling to contemplate. Perhaps that is why so much of the current debate seeks to ignore these consequences." I believe these men are right.

In Iraq, our moral obligations and our strategic interests are one. So we pursue the extremists wherever we find them and we stand with the Iraqis at this difficult hour -- because the shadow of terror will never be lifted from our world and the American people will never be safe until the people of the Middle East know the freedom that our Creator meant for all. (Applause.)

I recognize that history cannot predict the future with absolute certainty. I understand that. But history does remind us that there are lessons applicable to our time. And we can learn something from history. In Asia, we saw freedom triumph over violent ideologies after the sacrifice of tens of thousands of American lives -- and that freedom has yielded peace for generations.

The American military graveyards across Europe attest to the terrible human cost in the fight against Nazism. They also attest to the triumph of a continent that today is whole, free, and at peace. The advance of freedom in these lands should give us confidence that the hard work we are doing in the Middle East can have the same results we've seen in Asia and elsewhere -- if we show the same perseverance and the same sense of purpose.

In a world where the terrorists are willing to act on their twisted beliefs with sickening acts of barbarism, we must put faith in the timeless truths about human nature that have made us free.

Across the Middle East, millions of ordinary citizens are tired of war, they're tired of dictatorship and corruption, they're tired of despair. They want societies where they're treated with dignity and respect, where their children have the hope for a better life. They want nations where their faiths are honored and they can worship in freedom.

And that is why millions of Iraqis and Afghans turned out to the polls -- millions turned out to the polls. And that's why their leaders have stepped forward at the risk of assassination. And that's why tens of thousands are joining the security forces of their nations. These men and women are taking great risks to build a free and peaceful Middle East -- and for the sake of our own security, we must not abandon them.

There is one group of people who understand the stakes, understand as well as any expert, anybody in America -- those are the men and women in uniform. Through nearly six years of war, they have performed magnificently. (Applause.) Day after day, hour after hour, they keep the pressure on the enemy that would do our citizens harm. They've overthrown two of the most brutal tyrannies of the world, and liberated more than 50 million citizens. (Applause.)

In Iraq, our troops are taking the fight to the extremists and radicals and murderers all throughout the country. Our troops have killed or captured an average of more than 1,500 al Qaeda terrorists and other extremists every month since January of this year. (Applause.) We're in the fight. Today our troops are carrying out a surge that is helping bring former Sunni insurgents into the fight against the extremists and radicals, into the fight against al Qaeda, into the fight against the enemy that would do us harm. They're clearing out the terrorists out of population centers, they're giving families in liberated Iraqi cities a look at a decent and hopeful life.

Our troops are seeing this progress that is being made on the ground. And as they take the initiative from the enemy, they have a question: Will their elected leaders in Washington pull the rug out from under them just as they're gaining momentum and changing the dynamic on the ground in Iraq? Here's my answer is clear: We'll support our troops, we'll support our commanders, and we will give them everything they need to succeed. (Applause.)

Despite the mistakes that have been made, despite the problems we have encountered, seeing the Iraqis through as they build their democracy is critical to keeping the American people safe from the terrorists who want to attack us. It is critical work to lay the foundation for peace that veterans have done before you all.

A free Iraq is not going to be perfect. A free Iraq will not make decisions as quickly as the country did under the dictatorship. Many are frustrated by the pace of progress in Baghdad, and I can understand this. As I noted yesterday, the Iraqi government is distributing oil revenues across its provinces despite not having an oil revenue law on its books, that the parliament has passed about 60 pieces of legislation.

Prime Minister Maliki is a good guy, a good man with a difficult job, and I support him. And it's not up to politicians in Washington, D.C. to say whether he will remain in his position -- that is up to the Iraqi people who now live in a democracy, and not a dictatorship. (Applause.) A free Iraq is not going to transform the Middle East overnight. But a free Iraq will be a massive defeat for al Qaeda, it will be an example that provides hope for millions throughout the Middle East, it will be a friend of the United States, and it's going to be an important ally in the ideological struggle of the 21st century. (Applause.)

Prevailing in this struggle is essential to our future as a nation. And the question now that comes before us is this: Will today's generation of Americans resist the allure of retreat, and will we do in the Middle East what the veterans in this room did in Asia?

The journey is not going to be easy, as the veterans fully understand. At the outset of the war in the Pacific, there were those who argued that freedom had seen its day and that the future belonged to the hard men in Tokyo. A year and a half before the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan's Foreign Minister gave a hint of things to come during an interview with a New York newspaper. He said, "In the battle between democracy and totalitarianism the latter adversary will without question win and will control the world. The era of democracy is finished, the democratic system bankrupt."

In fact, the war machines of Imperial Japan would be brought down -- brought down by good folks who only months before had been students and farmers and bank clerks and factory hands. Some are in the room today. Others here have been inspired by their fathers and grandfathers and uncles and cousins.

That generation of Americans taught the tyrants a telling lesson: There is no power like the power of freedom and no soldier as strong as a soldier who fights for a free future for his children. (Applause.) And when America's work on the battlefield was done, the victorious children of democracy would help our defeated enemies rebuild, and bring the taste of freedom to millions.

We can do the same for the Middle East. Today the violent Islamic extremists who fight us in Iraq are as certain of their cause as the Nazis, or the Imperial Japanese, or the Soviet communists were of theirs. They are destined for the same fate. (Applause.)

The greatest weapon in the arsenal of democracy is the desire for liberty written into the human heart by our Creator. So long as we remain true to our ideals, we will defeat the extremists in Iraq and Afghanistan. We will help those countries' peoples stand up functioning democracies in the heart of the broader Middle East. And when that hard work is done and the critics of today recede from memory, the cause of freedom will be stronger, a vital region will be brighter, and the American people will be safer.

Thank you, and God bless. (Applause.)

END 10:29 A.M. CDT



Gee. I wonder what the Spinmeisters will say.