The "Non-Political" 9/11 Speech

Bush cites 9/11 to win Iraq war support - 12 Sep 2006 at 9:38am - WASHINGTON -- President Bush is invoking the memory of Sept. 11 to defend the war in Iraq, drawing protests from Democrats who say he politicized a national day of mourning.

"I am often asked why we are in Iraq when Saddam Hussein was not responsible for the 9/11 attacks," Bush said. "The answer is that the regime of Saddam Hussein was a clear threat.

Funny, I don't recall Bush in 2003 making so clear a distinction between responsibility for 9/11 attacks and whatever he now thinks the "clear threat" was.

"America did not ask for this war, and every American wishes it were over. So do I," Bush said. "But the war is not over, and it will not be over until either we or the extremists emerge victorious."

And when does he think one or the other party might emerge victorious? I'm guessing he thinks never, and also that he likes thinking that. When he says "extremists", is he referring to himself? When he says "this war", is he talking about Iraq, or about SCWOT (the So-Called-War-On-Terra)? If the former, the U.S. certainly did ask at least the U.N. — and members of the coalition-of-the-willing-and/or-easilly-bribed-or-blackmailed — for it. And didn't someone once say something like "bring it on"?

"My administration, the Congress and the United Nations saw the threat — and after 9/11, Saddam's regime posed a risk that the world could not afford to take."

Ummm... has he forgotten that Congress was asked to take his word (or MI5's word, or somebody's word) for the WMD thing? And that the United Nations wanted no part of his Iraq Attaq?

"Whatever mistakes have been made in Iraq, the worst mistake would be to think that if we pulled out, the terrorists would leave us alone," Bush said from the Oval Office, with a photo of his twin daughters and the American flag behind him. "They will not leave us alone. They will follow us. The safety of America depends on the outcome of the battle in the streets of Baghdad."

And, evidently, it would be just as big a mistake to think that remaining in Iraq will somehow prevent the terrorists from "following us":

Al Qaeda suspected in embassy attack - 12 Sep 2006 at 9:18am - Attackers armed with hand grenades and machine guns detonated a car bomb and tried to storm the U.S. Embassy in Damascus, Syria, today, according to the Syrian Information Ministry. Syrian security forces killed four attackers and took one into custody. An al Qaeda offshoot group is suspected in the attack, according to Imad Moustapha, Syrian ambassador to the United States.


Call for Bush to stop using 'Islamic fascists' - 12 Sep 2006 at 12:16pm - Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold called on President Bush to refrain from using the phrase "Islamic fascists," saying it was offensive to Muslims and has nothing to do with global terrorists fighting the United States.

Ya know, Feingold has a point; do Muslims go around calling Bush an "Imbecilic fascist"? Maybe someone can get GWB to stop saying "war on terra", too.