[M.D. Holloway]

"We Will Not Falter, and We Will Not Fail"
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April 16, 2004

So were the words of George W. Bush, 43rd President of the United States, in promising fidelity to the cause of removing Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq. He repeated those words in the last few weeks, including in a meeting this morning with Prime Minister Tony Blair of England. He should not have to repeat them so often (anyone remember September 11, 2001?), but he must because of the short memories and confused ideas of justice peddled by the national chattering classes and their friends in the Democratic Party. Many Democrats, including the one running for President, are publicly on record as calling for Hussein's removal. Yet when Mr. Bush actually does it, these Democrats start talking as if Americans are macho bullies for going into Iraq. Meanwhile, many conservatives are finding their pacifist streak rising to the top, as syndicated columnist Paul Craig Roberts has done, calling Bush's security staff "neo-Jacobin ideologues" (a reference to those who drove the bloody French Revolution in 1789), blaming the U.S. for terrorist attacks, publicly worrying that we are starting World War III, and talking about Muslim clerics as if they must hold the U.S. accountable to its promises of democracy in Iraq, or otherwise Bush and Co. would get off course.

This kind of silly discourse is not conservatism, but liberalism. Al Gore couldn't have said any better what Paul Craig Roberts, a conservative columnist, said. Thus, Mssrs. Bush and Blair are not only fighting liberals, but confused conservatives. The latter is the more difficult task, but so far, Mr. Bush has remained true to his moving, statesman-like promise not to falter, waver, or fail.