The State of the Union

The President talked about a variety of issues last night. He congratulated Nancy Pelosi on being the first Madam Chairman, and the crowd applauded. He called for a balanced budget, and the crowd applauded. He encouraged Congress to do more about education, and the crowd applauded. He suggested health insurance initiatives, and the crowd applauded. He called for immigration reform, and the crowd applauded. He called for real change to our environmental approach, and the crowd applauded. Then he talked about Iraq. He didn't try to get their response on his decision to send more troops. He just told them he had done it. But he did try to explain why:

It would not be like us to leave our promises unkept, our friends abandoned, and our own security at risk. Ladies and gentlemen: On this day, at this hour, it is still within our power to shape the outcome of this battle. So let us find our resolve, and turn events toward victory.

There was applause, but it was starkly obvious that the Democrats in general and the outspoken opponents of President Bush in particular did not applaud.

If American forces step back before Baghdad is secure, the Iraqi government would be overrun by extremists on all sides. We could expect an epic battle between Shia extremists backed by Iran, and Sunni extremists aided by Al-Qaida and supporters of the old regime. A contagion of violence could spill out across the country — and in time the entire region could be drawn into the conflict.

For America, this is a nightmare scenario. For the enemy, this is the objective. Chaos is their greatest ally in this struggle. And out of chaos in Iraq, would emerge an emboldened enemy with new safe havens ... new recruits ... new resources ... and an even greater determination to harm America. To allow this to happen would be to ignore the lessons of September 11th and invite tragedy. And ladies and gentlemen, nothing is more important at this moment in our history than for America to succeed in the Middle East ... to succeed in Iraq ... and to spare the American people from this danger.

Again, the applause was light, and his opponents were outspoken in their silence. With arms folded, the Pelosis and Obamas and Clintons made their statements. "No, Mr. President, we disagree. We do not believe that it is necessary to keep our promises or stick with our friends. We do not care about future security. We are not concerned about Iraq, its struggle, or the chaos that we all know would follow if we withdrew now. All we care about is getting our people out now. Let someone else deal with the results of that move."

Perhaps I read too much into their silence. But when Katie Couric interviewed Hillary Clinton after her declaration that she would run for president, Hillary stated that her plan was "phased redeployment". Now, that sounds like she plans to simply move troops around with some plan, but she explained in the following sentences that by "redeployment" she simply meant "bring them home". They would be redeployed ... the the U.S. And in his response to the President's speech, Senator Webb had a similar suggestion:

Not one step back from the war against international terrorism. Not a precipitous withdrawal that ignores the possibility of further chaos. But an immediate shift toward strong regionally-based diplomacy, a policy that takes our soldiers off the streets of Iraq's cities, and a formula that will in short order allow our combat forces to leave Iraq.

The suggestion is "Get our troops out of there and let's just talk to them." Substitute forces with "strong regionally-based diplomacy". You know, if we would only start a dialog with these people, they'd see the error of their killing ways and leap onto the democracy bandwagon. We don't need forces over there. We just need good talkers.

I have asked on more than one occasion what the alternative is to the President's plan(s). It seemed to me at those times that the only alternative being offered is "pull out". It would appear that my assessment was correct. According to polls and to Senator Webb's response, "The majority of the nation no longer supports the way this war is being fought; nor does the majority of our military." The conclusion is that we must, therefore, put an end to the war and withdraw our troops. This is because, you see, the majority rules in America. Instead, what we have is a Commander in Chief who was duly elected by the people and is operating on his pre-stated principles. What the majority of America has done is decide that his principles are irrelevant, that the notion of a "republic" is nonsense, and that we are not willing to bear up under difficult times in order to achieve what we set out to achieve. The majority of Americans have become ... the stereotypical American. Delayed gratification is a meaningless term. Hard work and effort is pointless. Democracy isn't really worth anything if it doesn't benefit me immediately. And those other countries ... well, they can just handle their own problems because we don't care.

Sometimes I'm embarrassed to be called an American.