In his own round about way, President Bush hit the nail on the head in discussing Iraq yesterday. The president conceded that the road to a permanent peace in Iraq has been a rocky one, but he also pointed out that much of the successes in Iraq have been ignored by the media and the left, which is one in the same for all intents and purposes. Bush pointed to the growing role of Iraq’s security forces and to the successful de-terrorization (not Bush’s words) of several Iraqi cities.
Bush’s speech, however, was conspicuous for what he did not say. Iraq, as we have noted on numerous occasions, was doing exactly as the president warned in 2003. Iraq was developing weapons of mass destruction, Iraq was fomenting terrorism, Iraq was destabilizing the region and Iraq was committing unspeakable atrocities under the Baathist regime. There is incontrovertible evidence to support this argument. Bush, however, has once again failed to point out these realities, only spotlighting the equally glaring reality of the media’s one-sidedness in covering post-war Iraq.
As British Prime Minister Tony Blair recently noted, there was a time when “progressives” (a detestable and erroneous term) cherished human rights and the growth of democratic government. Now it seems these very people, simply want peace at any cost; mass murder, torture and genocide are freely ignored so long as it requires force to combat. Today’s so-called progressives (regressives would be a more accurate term) are the champions of appeasement; they view peace as simply an absence of armed conflict, even if such peaceful comes at the expense of security or liberty.
“Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” -Patrick Henry, March 23, 1775
The answer to Patrick Henry’s question is not readily apparent, apparently freedom is worth fighting for under the right conditions (i.e., under the leadership of a Democratic president), otherwise freedom be damned if by sacrificing our freedom and security we can score political points.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-bush21mar21,1,7334617.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/03/20/bush.transcript.ap/
