The sour note was the president's characterization of the liberation of Iraq as starting in 2003 as "a war to disarm a state." Disarming Saddam Hussein's fascist regime was only one aim of the invasion. Ending Saddam's fascism was equally important. That repression was a violation of U.N. Resolution 688, which was part of the 1991 cease-fire agreements that put Saddam's Baathists on probation.
Freedom also was a goal of the action against Saddam's regime, and Bush made that clear in 2002. That's why the crushing of the totalitarians was called Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Last night, Obama said:
Today, old adversaries are at peace, and emerging democracies are potential partners....We all can agree with that.Throughout our history, America has been willing to bear the burden of promoting liberty and human dignity overseas, understanding its links to our own liberty and security. ...
Those Americans gave their lives for the values that have lived in the hearts of our people for over two centuries. Along with nearly 1.5 million Americans who have served in Iraq, they fought in a faraway place for people they never knew. They stared into the darkest of human creations -- war -- and helped the Iraqi people seek the light of peace.
Frank Warner
Yeah. He really made the case for our continued efforts in Afghanistan under his personal leadership with the word "continued". What ever that means.
Perhaps this is best we could hope for from this poor excuse for a US President, but somehow I was expecting something better .. like Roman columns, maybe.
Posted by: Neo | September 01, 2010 at 02:08 PM