Confident Bush Makes Case For His Iraq Policy
In what could only be termed as a strong, passionate, logical defense of his Iraq policy, President Bush explained in great detail why we:
Here's some of the noteworthy things the President said:
President Bush was asked if he saw any parallels to Vietnam, drawing a quick "NO." He said that it's different because Iraq is being governed by elected officials that the Iraqi people elected who are following a constitution that's been written and ratified by the Iraqi people. I thought that was his clearest, most emphatic reply during the news conference.
His next most emphatic reply was that he "wouldn't let politics and polls prevent him from doing what's right in Iraq."
Overall, I think this news conference went a long way to convincing the average American person that he has a multifaceted plan for victory in Iraq. The President was in obvious command of the detailed information on issues surrounding Iraq. He challenged Democrats to a debate on who has the best plan for victory in Iraq, predicting more calls for pulling out of Iraq "as these campaigns start approaching" in this mid-term congressional election year.
Expect his visit to Iraq to strengthen al-Maliki in the eyes of the Iraqi people and with the world community. Expect Operation Forward Together to squash much of the violence in Baghdad. And expect President Bush to not cut and run like Murtha's suggesting or setting a timetable like Sen. Kerry's suggesting. And expect Americans to rally around the President's plan for victory in "one part in the global war on terror."
Posted Wednesday, June 14, 2006 10:02 AM
May 2006 Posts
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- can't leave Iraq until the sectarian violence is dramatically reduced;
- must still help Iraq's emerging government with security operations; and
- must stay engaged in Iraq in terms of what it means to the overall GWOT.
Here's some of the noteworthy things the President said:
- He thought he shouldn't call Zarqawi's death as a "tide turning" and that he'd rather think in terms of making steady progress in Iraq. That marks a change in tone, replacing his prior bold tone with a more cautious tone.
- He said that setting a "zero violence" benchmark for success wasn't realistic because "it gives the insurgents and foreign terrorists" something to point to as America and its allies not succeeding.
"Iraqi and coalition forces are still on the offense," Bush added. He cited raids of suspected terrorist targets. "We got new intelligence from those raids which will enable us to keep the pressure on the foreigners and the local Iraqis who are killing innocent lives," he told a Rose Garden news conference. "We'll seize this moment of opportunity to help the prime minister," Bush added.This statement's significance relates back to Democrats calls for a timetable, which he dismissed as bad policy. The Washington Post's David Ignatius, appearing on FNC immediately after the news conference, said that he was struck by the amount of detail that the President provided to the White House press corps, something I heartily agree with. It was obvious to me that the President was focusing the majority of his attention on winning in Iraq, talking about various people in his cabinet working closely with their Iraq counterparts on issues like Alberto Gonzales working with his Iraqi counterpart on training judges to Sam Bodman working with his Iraqi counterpart on rebuilding Iraq's oil infrastructure to Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns working with his Iraqi counterpart on various agriculture initiatives aimed at increasing agriculture productivity as a means to improving Iraq's economy.
President Bush was asked if he saw any parallels to Vietnam, drawing a quick "NO." He said that it's different because Iraq is being governed by elected officials that the Iraqi people elected who are following a constitution that's been written and ratified by the Iraqi people. I thought that was his clearest, most emphatic reply during the news conference.
His next most emphatic reply was that he "wouldn't let politics and polls prevent him from doing what's right in Iraq."
Overall, I think this news conference went a long way to convincing the average American person that he has a multifaceted plan for victory in Iraq. The President was in obvious command of the detailed information on issues surrounding Iraq. He challenged Democrats to a debate on who has the best plan for victory in Iraq, predicting more calls for pulling out of Iraq "as these campaigns start approaching" in this mid-term congressional election year.
Expect his visit to Iraq to strengthen al-Maliki in the eyes of the Iraqi people and with the world community. Expect Operation Forward Together to squash much of the violence in Baghdad. And expect President Bush to not cut and run like Murtha's suggesting or setting a timetable like Sen. Kerry's suggesting. And expect Americans to rally around the President's plan for victory in "one part in the global war on terror."
Posted Wednesday, June 14, 2006 10:02 AM
May 2006 Posts
No comments.
