Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checked by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.
--Theodore Roosevelt
Listening to the fatuous Al Gore claim his undeserved Nobel Prize and maunder on about how America is ruining the planet makes me realize how fortunate America is to have as its president George W. Bush. Yes, Bush has his ample share of failings. He occasionally speaks at the fifth-grade level. He is too willing to surround himself with cronies and sycophants. An unsupple man, Bush sometimes reminds me of the toy soldier who walks into the wall and keeps going.
Bush's weaknesses, however, are more than compensated for by his one great strength. This is a man with unbelievable tenacity. No American president in my lifetime, not even Reagan, had Bush's guts. Perhaps one would have to go all the way back to Franklin or Teddy Roosevelt to find comparable determination. On the international stage, Bush's stamina recalls that of Churchill. Consider: when Bush was elected in 2000 with the tiniest conceivable margin--a margin so slender it required Supreme Court intervention to place him in the Oval Office--I was sure that Bush's proposed tax cuts were dead. But no: Bush pushed ahead and got most of what he proposed. And the subsequent health of the economy--low interest rates, low unemployment, steady growth--has undoubtedly been nourished by Bush's tax cuts.
Then in 2006, after the midterm debacle, I thought that Bush's Iraq policy was finished. And you could hear the pundits and the newly-elected Democratic congressmen and the pathological Bush-haters gleefully declaring, "Now he's going to have to start pulling out of Iraq." Instead Bush pressed for an increase of 20,000-25,000 troops. Incredibly, he got it. Congress shrieked and howled but went along. The American people were very doubtful, but Bush serenely told them to "wait and see." Bush has seemingly singe-handedly pursued his vision for Iraq even when his allies both at home and abroad have dwindled or lost their nerve. And once again Bush's policy seems to be working. Iraq is becoming more peaceful, and apparently there are Shia and Sunni leaders cooperating with the Americans. The Bush-haters are still with us, but the wind has gone out of the antiwar movement.
Bush has had a tough second term in office. But I think history will be kinder to him than the opinion polls, at least in the past couple of years, have been. When the country looks back at Iraq and sees a standing, even if fragile, democracy, Americans will see that when they became impatient, Bush forged ahead. When they were ready to give up, he was undeterred. And as a consequence the Middle East has its first Muslim democracy, and a pro-American democracy to boot. The lesson of Iraq may well be: Thank God we didn't listen to those advocates of defeat on the left; if we had, it would have been Vietnam all over again.
The diplomat Clare Luce once wrote that history, which has no room for clutter, will remember every president by just one line. I'm not quite sure how Bill Clinton will be remembered: perhaps his only distinguishing mark will be the one that Paula Jones identified. As for Bush, he will go down in history as the president who refused to back down, and if staying the course in Iraq proves to be the right move, then Bush could be remembered as one of America's great presidents.
Reader Comments ( Page 7 of 42)
91. It's a big shit-sandwich, and we're all going to have to take a bite.
I am embarrassed at this time to be an american.
Richard at 12:12PM on Dec 14th 2007
92. richard,
no al-quaeda when we got there. i thought the iraq's under hussien were trianing them? what was there then? and where do you get half a million is that what hussien killed?
brian at 12:13PM on Dec 14th 2007
93. Come on. Are you kidding me? Bush has integrity and guts?! The man is shady and only won the 2000 election because old Jeb pushed it over the edge. Too bad Al didn't win. If he had, maybe by now we would have the hydrogen-powered cars and be closer to being an engergy conservative nation. I just read an article on how he has totally converted his house into an eco-friendly building. All Bushy cares about is war and money. GREEDY!
Sarah at 12:14PM on Dec 14th 2007
94. Linda - a "lair" is place that an animal uses to hide himself. At least on that, you, I and Brian probably agree. And "plans his next attack"...how, by drawing pictures in the sand? Good for you Linda. Keep those great ideas coming.
Memphis Rampage at 12:22PM on Dec 14th 2007
95. All that is necessary for evil to triumph, is for good men(and women) to stand by and do nothing.
It is time we did something, I did something, to stop our country from sponsoring the "terrorism" we so deeply fear.
Richard at 12:17PM on Dec 14th 2007
96. brian, do you expect ANYONE to respect you or take you seriously based on these comments?
emma at 11:39AM on Dec 14th 2007
xxxx
According to brian it always starts when bobby hits him back.
Clif Kuplen at 12:21PM on Dec 14th 2007
97. It is unfortunate that when brian writes, the level of the discussion drops precipitously. All he has in his arsenal of weapons are his own sense of self religiosity, over-weening piety and pomposity. His mind is as a closed as a politician's sphincter during a hand shaking session after a franks and beans dinner.
Pamela at 12:25PM on Dec 14th 2007
98. support the troops,
question your political leaders.
hate war,
love the American warrior.
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brian,
that is all i have posted on this blog. and i find neither stupid. maybe if i explain those two phrases you will reconsider how stupid you think it is.
in old town ft collins colorado there were people on one side of college blvd holding up signs that said "support our troops" while on the other side of the street there were people holding up anti-bush signs. this was going on for weeks then one day there was one woman standing on the median between the two groups holding a sign that said "support our troops question our political leaders." my english instructor lives in colorado and told me that story.
the second phrase is a quote from lt. col. Hal Moore who led the air cavalry to the la drang valley in north vietnam in 1965.
does what i said still sound like stupid venom?
Richelle at 12:28PM on Dec 14th 2007
99. I know, Clif :)
Sarah, you are right. I was right here in Florida when that happened, and I was one of the many appauled conservationists who felt pretty depressed that day.
Recently, I found some interesting data in the Journal of Religion and Society (Vol 7, 2005):
"In general, higher rates of belief in and worship of a creator correlate with higher rates of homicide, juvenile and early adult mortality, STD infection rates, teen pregnancy and abortion in the prosperous democracies.
"The United States is almost always the most dysfunctional of the developing democracies, sometimes spectacularly so."
"The non-religious, pro-evolution democracies contradict the dictum that a society cannot enjoy good conditions unless most citizens ardently believe in a moral creator.
"The widely held fear that a Godless citizenry must experience societal disaster is therefore refuted."
"The study shows that England, despite the social ills it has, is actually performing a good deal better than the USA in most indicators, even though it is now a much less religious nation than America."
He said that the disparity was even greater when the US was compared with other countries, including France, Japan and the Scandinavian countries. These nations had been the most successful in reducing murder rates, early mortality, sexually transmitted diseases and abortion, he added.
emma at 12:33PM on Dec 14th 2007
100. Richard, you are right on.
THERE WAS NO NO NO NO NO ALQAEDA IN IRAQ BEFORE WE INVADED.
brian, I don't know where you got your info, but there were no terrorist camps in Iraq before we invaded, there was no AlQaeda in Iraq before we invaded, and Iran was balanced in power with Sadaam and that balance kept things relatively stable.....before we invaded.
AlQaeda and Saddam hated each other, as they hated us. We killed the enemy of our enemies, and upset the balance of power in that region, and gave up on taking down AlQaeda where they were. Bad tactical move. We gave them the opportunity to set up shop in Iraq, where there NOW ARE TERRORIST training camps. If you wonder why Sadaam was so brutal, look at the relative order he kept, as he battled internal strife, ongoing feud/war with Iran, and ongoing hatred from binladen and alqaeda. Pretty impressive reign before we got there, actually. Look how brutal we have to be just to keep relative order in the short term.
THERE WAS NO ALQAEDA IN IRAQ BEFORE WE INVADED, AND A MONKEY COULD HAVE PREDICTED IRAN'S RISE WITH SADDAM'S FALL.
and brian and others: the above is not liberal blather. It is not anti-bush rhetoric. It is fact. Furthermore, AlQaeda as an organization has been able to use their stand against us IN IRAQ as a rallying point with other groups, and have actually profited financially from their battles with us in Iraq. .....this is something they NEVER would've done if we hunted them down relentlessly, smoking them out an dcapturing or killing them where they live and train (Afghanistan) ....(to paraphrase w bush pre-Iraq invasion).
THINK FOR YOURSELF, OK? PLEASE... at 12:39PM on Dec 14th 2007
101. Hello Everyone,
Based on the first page of posts (I have to work and this is my lunch break so I cannot divest more than 10-15 minutes of review), people have a deluded view of what is going on.
Iraq was specifically allowed periods of civil violence so that the authorities within the country could go through the unfortunate human process of delineation and formation. America did the same during the Civil War (another topic I'm going to discuss, read on please).
Iraq WAS an enemy of Iran, before Saddam became a traitorous dog and bit the hand of which fed him. His children had no loyalty to ANYONE nor were they even HUMAN. They were INSANE, RAPISTS, MURDERERS and the country was theirs more and more every day.
We have at least 4 MAJOR reasons for entering Iraq and the CONGRESS and Senate all agreed on the infiltration. You can blame the president all you want, but the representative government made a collaborative decision to kill Saddam and his poisonous branches.
Before I give these reasons, lets explore the inevitable truth.
Saddam's devil children take power of Iraq. Iraq has access to Chemical/Biological weapons (which they've used numerous times and have murdered well over 100 thousand people - proof evidence included). They also have a paramilitary force that took liberties in small arms trade and many terrorist activity encouraging events.
So, allowing Iraq to stand and continue on the path to destruction against the "Western Devil" (you, btw, that's their definition), you allow the festering disease of terrorist based violence and murder to propagate and eventually boil over into your front lawn. Could this have been 10 years down the line? 5 Years? How about 9/11 was a blatant attack against our sovereign mainland soil. It had already begun.
The people who cry wolf right now are the ones saved from violence at your doorstep. The soldiers are fighting thousands of miles away from your home, so you don't think it's worth your time or appreciation? Oh of course you wouldn't take the soldiers for granted would you? YOU ARE!
They are FIGHTING and you saying you don't believe in their purpose is saying they are WASTING their time. Natural Human Inclination persists and negativity is the main focus of any circus. The soldiers come home and one day after the parade they are faced with the cynical naysaying of people who don't really care. You pretend to care, pretend to be of higher moral ground, but you are denying the importance of protecting OUR FUTURE.
Or would you rather bend over and say please?
Now.... Here are the reasons why we are in Iraq.
1. Iraq was digressing into a terrorist state to be ruled by violent men (men like you say Bush and his constituents are - then why not get rid of the "Bush" in Iraq).
2. Having a sphere of influence in the Middle East is important for placing foothold to minister peace and leverage control over aggresive states. This includes POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, MILITARY, and SOCIAL asset logistical applications.
3. A brief list of the Political, Economic and Military tactical strategem:
- Having a presence in the volatile arena in the Middle East will facilitate political activism that CAN bring positive life changes. We're not concerned with changing their society. Any nation is entitled to their culture, history and society. We simple should be a good neighbor to make sure women are not oppressed, ethnicities are not being persecuted and people are not being murdered (all things happening in Iraq under Saddam).
- Not only can we make political influence for humane benefit we have political influence to communicate in peace process. I hear the sarcasm echoing through the empty halls of your brain right now. You can only talk if you're sitting with them. It's the way of the old world.
- Military perspective shows that Iraq is centrally located to the hub of activity for all major aggressive states. Do you need a list? Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria/Lebanon, Isreal/Palestine, Iran, and on and on. Without being a part of this region, we can make NO progress at all. They will continute to murder each other and it will not stop, unless we step in like WW2 and WW1.
- Economic Reasons? The Economy is the new form of World War. Do you know what Japan did once it was forced to lay down arms? They went to war in business. This is the clear perspective in worldwide economics. The nations compete to excell and maintain fiscal balance, else fold the house of cards. Regardless of whether or not you agree with it, it's necessary to partake in this economic race. Eventually it will no longer be a chaotic race, but a standardized stream of flowing prosper. Right now our economic is based on GROWTH, when in fact constant growth is a strangulation technique against our Mother Earth. So it will have to change, but current circumstances are such.
- Humane reasons. People were under a violence dictatorship. The secret police of Iraq went around with government issued pliers to hold out a person's tongue and cut it off with scissors or a knife. This is actually a former government procedure, detailed in law. THAT'S THE KIND OF INSANITY THAT WAS GOING ON THERE. I agree our system is far from perfect (we're making changes to improve), but at least we don't have to worry about getting our tongues cut off. Stalin did it, Hitler did it, Lenin did it and Saddam did it. His hiers were even worst. This doesn't even mention the fact that 140,000 Kurds were murdered using Chemical Gas that melted away their flesh. That's what Saddam thought was "proper government procedure". Are you insane to think this is allowable? Fine, U.S., lets let this rabid rottweiler kill off the neighborhood pets and wait until he eats enough poodles and cats and gets so f'ing crazed he comes to bite us. That's smart.
A note to all the self-righteous people who scream bloody murder, yet do not give a flying f- in reality. You say Bush is an idiot and should be executed (and your Amens are NOT RECEIVED), well you're even less intelligent for NOT SEEING THE REALISTIC TRUTHS ABOUT IRAQ.
How can I say you don't give a mustard seed of care? Caring is NOT just complaining in ridicule. Your derision against Bush and his agendas show that you really don't care AT ALL about what's actually happening. You USE THE BLOOD OF THE DEAD AS AN EXCUSE TO JUSTIFY YOUR PROPAGANDA OF HATRED AND SUPERIORITY COMPLEX.
Somehow it's become popular to hate on Bush. It's almost become PC. I guess there's something invigorating about being able to laugh at the leader of your nation. He's not MY president he's OUR PRESIDENT.
Many times I've heard, "your president this, your president that". Earth to those who are no longer of the Confederate states prior to the Civil War (that cost the world the MOST AMOUNT OF BLOOD IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND), you cannot succeed and you are a part of this nation like it or not. You can leave if you really want to. Be prepared for terrible circumstances that you cannot even imagine. I bet you can't afford to live in Sweden or Norway where things are good now, but are going downhill (reports directly from the people).
Digest this and do not bother to reply. I'm not listening.
As for Dinesh, you too have guts for stating your beliefs and it doesn't matter if I agree with you or not. Bush is not alone.
God Bless America.
mincpa at 12:41PM on Dec 14th 2007
102. brian, I'm not for the war.
I'm quoting you where you said something else that devalues one group of people over another group of people (in this case, Iraqi's are less than US soliders).
This is how religion (and it's retarded cousin nationalism) cause people to commit attrocities.
Ryan Anderson at 12:41PM on Dec 14th 2007
103. Tenacity? Try blind stupidity, stubborness and delusions of granduer. "Stay the course" when the course is the road to Hell, an inability to admit EVER having made a mistake, I could go on and on!
Sarah at 12:42PM on Dec 14th 2007
104. yo Memphis Rampage, do you REALLY think that Bin Laden has no resources, and sits in what amounts to a dirt-floored cave, and draws pictures in the sand to plan attacks???
Yeah, and dinesh is Nestor the Long Eared Christmas Donkey.....oh wait, that one is true....never mind....
By the way, what is Santa Claus gonna bring you this year?
THINK FOR YOURSELF, OK? PLEASE... at 12:50PM on Dec 14th 2007
105. memphis idiot: "94. Linda - a "lair" is place that an animal uses to hide himself. At least on that, you, I and Brian probably agree. And "plans his next attack"...how, by drawing pictures in the sand? Good for you Linda. Keep those great ideas coming."
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I didn't think you could make a stupider remark than the 'capitalize' post, but you have outdone yourself.
What an insane implication, that a bin Laden attack is something I WANT?????
You are cracked beyond repair.
And by the by, bin Laden is very wealthy. Don't assume smugly that he is impotent.
I sincerely hope it wouldn't happen, but won't you feel like an asshole if he does attack?
Linda at 12:50PM on Dec 14th 2007