W's speach?? nobody yet to comment?

[juanbenae]

i can't wait until the daily show tonite.

couple of observations and revelations--

i am glad W was reelected about now. JK could not, nor should have had to clean up W & Co's mess over there. and it is a mess

that coalition troops= American troops

nearly 10X as many troops have been killed since W declared "mission accomplished" on that aircraft carrier than had been lost before his "victory speech".

senate and house elections next year outta be interesting for the GOP.

9/11 has become his crutch for whatever it is he's fuch'd up as of late. he only referenced it like 20x last night. i thought it was a freedom mission, or was it WMD's? seems him as i have forgotten why we went to irak.

the quoting of Osama Bin "Winnin' as of late" binladen about the need to win the war was priceless. i though he'd forgotten who OBL was??

i did agree with a few of his statements, such as

1. we can not set a date because they will wait us out and take over after. take over what? the oil?
2. we will not be sending any additional troops over there. are there any left that are willing to sign up to go? it soon will be W's army of one over there.

this is just as i thought it was going to go prior to the election. i am generally looking at the glass as half empty so i am not disappointed, but pleasantly surprised. no "pleasant" surprises as of late from this administration. just the same ol BS.

lastly, where are the BT's, lenn's, flintstones, and the other PP OT neocons touting their guy after last night? aren't you guys proud of your guy and his act? prop him up now and tell us how he's got everything under control.

[mikester]

FIRST!

[widebody911]

Toby, why do you hate America so much?

[Jim Richards]

W? W who?

[speeder]

What I heard was, "Well, we've been there for two+ years, things have generally gone sideways just like those damn experts said they would, and gosh darn it, I don't have a single new idea in my ******* head. So keep waving the flag and invest in Halliburton and Exxon-Mobile. Good night."

[Jared at Pelican Parts]

Sounded like the same things hes been saying for the last two years.

[techweenie]

Nothing new.

Iraq. 9/11.

Iraq. 9/11.

We're on track. Doing as we planned, nothing has gone wrong.

Oh, did I mention 9/11?

[dd74]

Meanwhile, the voice of Tigger in Winnie The Pooh, died.

[rrpjr]

Watching the speech I felt an overwhelming wish for unity of purpose to win the war. I hoped for the breathtaking prospect of unity expressed by all politicians. I very much wished for both an offer by Bush to end all partisanship and work with the opposition party to secure victory, and a democratic response that both lifted my spirits with its joint resolve to win just as it dispirited our enemies and repudiated their campaign to demoralize and divide us with their sick bloodthirstiness.

However, Bush’s failure to articulate properly the reasons for this war and the importance of victory, or to pledge an end to partisanship and to appeal for unity in this crucial hour, and the democrat opposition’s choice to continue its relentless and wickedly opportunistic derision and defeatism left me in a foul state. I came away wondering if the tired old West is capable of this fight at all, if it really has seen its best days, if pride in the noble ideal of liberal, capitalist western civilization and its intention to uphold it in the face of Islamic nihilism and barbarity – surely its greatest menace -- has been entirely exhausted and corrupted by materialism, apathy, post-modern moral confusion and self-loathing and paltry political power-mongering.

[jyl]

We - the USA - are fully capable of fighting and winning a war when there is a truthful and compelling reason to fight, there is a clear and agreed definition of winning, we plan thoroughly and realistically and without self-deception, we commit overwhelming combat forces to the battle, and we understand and agree on the human and financial costs that our country will bear.

These are very demanding conditions that will not often be met. Meaning that we should not fight wars very often. So be it.

When these conditions are not met, bad things happen.

[CRH911S]

So keep waving the flag and invest in Halliburton and Exxon-Mobile.

Last time around it was Coca-Cola and Hostess Twinkes. Anyway, The Republicans are in too deep and need to keep our soldiers in-country until after the elections.

[ZOA NOM]

More people died in the first ten minutes of the Normandy landing. We're talking less than 2000 soldiers. More die taking turns too fast in rear engined cars on American roads in a year. Relax, and enjoy the the forum that freedom provides for your misguided criticisms.

[jim72911t]

More die taking turns too fast in rear engined cars on American roads in a year

Care to elaborate?

Even if close to 2000 people a year die while "taking turns too fast in rear engined cars on American roads," those people weren't sent to drive said cars too fast on said roads under false pretenses.

This war (and the deaths and injuries to our troops and innocent Iraqi citizens) is completely on W's shoulders, and I wish he'd at least take some responsibility for it.

Jim

[vash]

i sat it out.

[gavinlit]

At least he's a consistent idiot.

[stuartj]

All very carefully chrographed, lots of stern faces in immaculate uniform. Implicitly, "support our troops". To do other is un-American.

Great theatre. Shame about Chimpy.

But no flight suit this time. Didnt test well.

[Jared at Pelican Parts]

We are always at war with Eurasia

[stuartj]

Originally posted by ZOANAS
More people died in the first ten minutes of the Normandy landing. We're talking less than 2000 soldiers. More die taking turns too fast in rear engined cars on American roads in a year. Relax, and enjoy the the forum that freedom provides for your misguided criticisms.

My, so lightly you dismiss 2000 of your countrymen dead, 2000 familes damaged by this vainglorious advenure.

Yep, 2000 dead professional well armed, well trained soldiers. Totally acceptable, perhpas, given that we invaded Iraq. 12000 more injured. Thats OK, then.

But the Iraqis? Many thousands of civilians dead (100,000?), many more thousands injured, infrastructure trashed, social damage incalculable.

Haliburton up 100pts.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

[rrpjr]

Originally posted by stuartj
But the Iraqis? Many thousands of civilians dead (100,000?), many more thousands injured, infrastructure trashed, social damage incalculable.

Haliburton up 100pts.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

Grossly unfair with contempt for facts. The story of the rebuilding of social infrastructure in Iraq, though unreported on CNN, is remarkable. The improvements in healthcare, health infrastructure, water/sanitation, education, vocational training, power grid, local government community action almost defies what is possible in so short a time for a nation so ravaged by the last 10 years of its tyrant's remorseless siphoning of public monies for private and military purposes. Under the direction of USAID and its subcontractors, local Iraqi contractors and help from US troops and engineers, health care has increased 60 times levels under Hussein. 240 hospitals and 1200 local health centers are now operating, 30 million doses of vaccine distributed, 2,300 schools renovated, 8.7 million new math and science textbooks issued, 2,700 PTAs organized, 33,000 teachers trained, and female attendance at schools raisd from 40% under Hussein to 96%. In 2003, Iraq's electrical system wa delivering less than 70,000 MWhrs/day. By summer of last year, this was at 106,000 Mwhrs. Such progress is seen in Karbala, Hillah, Najaf, Kirkuk, Dahuk, Arbil, Mosul, Baghdad, Amarah, Umm Qasr, Basra, and many other towns and cities. These efforts and their results need to be acknowledged, though of course this is difficult when the playbook calls for a story of hopeless and unmitigated failure. It just isn't that simple. Take some time and read about the heroic non-military accomplishments of your countrymen.

[IROC]

The interesting thing to me - watching the speech - was that Bush seems to honestly and sincerely believe what he is saying. I have to give him credit (or pity, possibly) in that respect - he really, truly seems to believe his own rhetoric.

It pained me to see Bush continue to paint this "undertaking" as a battle between good and evil. To me, that reeks of religious undertones.

Also not surprising that this speech was held at a military facility which essentially guaranteed an audience that was receptive to his message.

Mike