I was out during President Bush’s speech last night, so the first thing I did when I got home was to start looking for the video on the Internet. So kudos to New England Cable News, which had posted it in easy-to-load Flash video. Even CSPAN.org couldn’t beat that.
As for the substance, I have to confess that Bush’s words came across as recycled boilerplate to such an extent that it was hard to pay attention. Besides, most of the details had been leaked out in the preceding days. But I found the lead of this Sheryl Gay Stolberg analysis in the New York Times to be suitably horrifying:
By stepping up the American military presence in Iraq, President Bush is not only inviting an epic clash with the Democrats who run Capitol Hill. He is ignoring the results of the November elections, rejecting the central thrust of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group and flouting the advice of some of his own generals, as well as Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq.
Unless you believe that Bush knows more than all of the aforementioned people (including the voters who rejected his policies last November), then you should be as horrified as I am.
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More horror – Bush’s explicit threats against Syria and Iran (which leads to the obvious question – you and what army?), coupled with”deploying Patriot missles to reassure our friends and allies” (huh? Patriot missles aren’t a solution to any conceivable threads posed by Iraqi insurgents); coupled with“U.S. forces in Iraq raided Iran’s consulate in the northern city of Arbil and detained five staff members, a state-run Iranian news service said.”Horror upon horror. In our name.
Gee, Dan, thanks. As if I wasn’t worried enough. Now you’ve got me wondering if my unborn daughter will be drafted.Steve, you should see what else is being done in our name.