move along...move along...just another liberal ranting

Didja watch? Huh?! Didja?!

I missed most of it as I get out of work at 9pm on Wednesdays, but I did catch the second half (where I was called a pessimist! How rude!) and watched PBS coverage post-speech.

First of all, who else thinks it was hilarious that he chose to give the speech in the library? I think it was to give the impression that the administration had "studied" the options--that they had spent hours pouring over old texts and looking to learn from past mistakes this country had made in other wars to ensure that the same mistakes were not made again.

Ahem.

He actually looked scared, I thought. Scared and like he might throw up at any moment. He knows. He knows full well that he's going this one alone and is in for a fight.

He started off exactly the way I thought:

"Tonight in Iraq, the armed forces of the United States are engaged in a struggle that will determine the direction of the global war on terror - and our safety here at home. "

The war in Iraq had zero to do with the global war on terror. Zero. Nada. Zip. Why G.W.B. insisted on invading Iraq while Afghanistan (who DOES have to do with his great epic global war) was still not secured, I do not know. Regardless, it is pretty common knowledge now that the mythical weapons of mass destruction never did exist. You created this mess, man. YOU did. Not al Quaeda, not Saddam, and not the Iraqi people. You did it all on your own. So stop. Stop trying to blur the lines of reality. Iraq is and will always be all you.

"Where mistakes have been made, the responsibility rests with me."

No.Way. There it is, folks. Despite using one of my favorite political phrases he eventually takes the blame. I don't know about you but I've been waiting for that since the beginning of this war. Sadly, it's too little too late.

"On September the 11th, 2001, we saw what a refuge for extremists on the other side of the world could bring to the streets of our own cities. For the safety of our people, America must succeed in Iraq."

We absolutely must succeed in Iraq-whatever that means. I agree completely. We leave now and the big vacuum of power that was already created when we removed Saddam will just get bigger and scarier. You lost me when once again you linked 9/11 with Iraq. It's so subtle how this administration has so successfully manipulated the American people into thinking that the two are somehow related. They are not.

"Our troops will have a well-defined mission: to help Iraqis clear and secure neighborhoods, to help them protect the local population, and to help ensure that the Iraqi forces left behind are capable of providing the security that Baghdad needs."

This is not going to work. It worked in Tall Afar, a city of 150,000 people. It will not work in the massive sprawling city of Baghdad. How do we know? History. See, if you had actually looked back to that little war we've been comparing this one to for the past 3 years you would have learned that we tried this exact same tactic in Vietnam and we failed. More importantly, this focus on security instead of diplomacy is the #1 problem with the plan. This war will not be won militarily. It will succeed politically or not at all. You are not only wasting billions and billions of dollars you are putting American soldiers and Iraqi citizens directly in the line of fire. You think we've seen violence this past year? Things are just going to continue to get worse.

"This begins with addressing Iran and Syria. These two regimes are allowing terrorists and insurgents to use their territory to move in and out of Iraq. Iran is providing material support for attacks on American troops. We will disrupt the attacks on our forces. We will interrupt the flow of support from Iran and Syria. And we will seek out and destroy the networks providing advanced weaponry and training to our enemies in Iraq."

And that's just a big old "Fuck you!" to the Iraq Study Group.

"The challenge playing out across the broader Middle East is more than a military conflict. It is the decisive ideological struggle of our time. On one side are those who believe in freedom and moderation. On the other side are extremists who kill the innocent, and have declared their intention to destroy our way of life. In the long run, the most realistic way to protect the American people is to provide a hopeful alternative to the hateful ideology of the enemy - by advancing liberty across a troubled region."

On one side is Islam. On the other side is Christianity. Let the flag waving commence. But seriously, how many times are we going to hear this? We are not going to win an epic ideological war with weapons.

"Acting on the good advice of Senator Joe Lieberman and other key members of Congress, we will form a new, bipartisan working group that will help us come together across party lines to win the war on terror."

Lieberman? You call that bipartisan?!? I'd ask what took you so long to include the party of Cut-and-Run, but I already know the answer. You lost this fall and have no choice but to pay attention to the other side.

"Fellow citizens: The year ahead will demand more patience, sacrifice, and resolve."

We're out of patience. We're sick of sacrificing for this administration's arrogance. And I just hope we have the resolve as citizens of this country to punish you to the full extent of the law for the gross misdeeds you have committed.