Redstate

The Speech I wish President Bush would make

By haystack Posted in War — Comments (18) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

First, a little context...

I am descended from Mennonites persecuted out of Germany through Austria to America in the early 1700’s. My ancestors came through Philadelphia BEFORE it was a beacon of freedom and Democracy.

They toiled and sacrificed and prayed for the strength and courage they would need to nourish and grow their lives and their families as part of something bigger than themselves; something they believed God had pre-ordained for them.

They believed in honor and they understood duty. When the call came, they took up arms. They stood up for the safety and security of their friends and families and loved ones, they defended what they had worked so hard to accomplish, and they stood fast and held strong against the abuses of corruption and tyranny. They vowed to NEVER again relinquish their rights, their freedoms, and their liberty, and many of them made the ultimate sacrifice where God and country had required it of them.

America continued in this way for over 200 years, and so did she respond when our nation and her people were again called to duty in the name of honor and self-defense in the wake of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Not since then, has this country been the America my ancestors and yours have fought and died for so many generations to sustain and nourish and grow.

The America of my ancestors and our forefathers has lost its way. Sidetracked by distractions of self-appeasement and self-aggrandizement, an unwillingness to sacrifice beyond disposable means, a disdain for higher beliefs, and a deteriorating sense of pride in its place among other nations of the world, America has become lazy, soft, selfish, and incoherent.

What I want President Bush to say tomorrow about the war in Iraq, and the greater war on terrorism goes something like this…

More below the fold

My Fellow Americans,

In the course of the past year I have listened to your voices regarding the war in Iraq. From my advisers, to our Military experts, to your elected representatives, I have listened.

I have watched as our media has portrayed this war in a negative light, focusing on those that have died while ignoring so many who have a better chance of living now than what they faced three years ago.

I have listened to the voices of our brave men and women who have sacrificed so much to protect and defend their country as they express their sadness and disappointment with the voices of discontent and the lack of support from the American people, and far too many of our politicians, critics, pundits, and media outlets.

I have seen first hand what this war has done to the country of Iraq and to her people. I have seen first hand what it has done to our Soldiers and their families and loved ones. I see every day what it is doing to our great nation, and I live daily with the effect it has had on the relationships with our friends and allies around the world.

While it is abundantly clear that much has been accomplished, and many victories in this war have been realized, many of you have either been prevented from learning of our progress in an encouraging light, or have been given pause from doing so by the voices of criticism and discontent.

It saddens me as your President that not all of you appreciate or acknowledge the suffering of the families left behind by our brave men and women who have fought and died in this fight. It saddens me as an American that some of you are disinterested, unconcerned or do not appreciate that our Soldiers and their families, and the Americans who love and support them, face enduring pain and anguish over the sacrifices we have asked of them in this struggle against these radical Islamists around the world..

I come before you tonight to inform you that many of your fellow Americans do not recognize, nor respect, the price our nation has paid and must continue to pay in the face of this great threat to our people, our principles of humanity, and our ways of life.

I come to remind you of what we endeavor to accomplish, what the costs of failing to succeed to a victorious conclusion will be, and to share with you my plans for the way forward in Iraq and this greater war on terrorism.

America, and much of the rest of the world, faces an enemy driven by religion, motivated by death, unwilling to make peace and coexist on this earth with any who do not submit to their beliefs and convert to their ways of life. Our enemy comes from a segment of the religion of Islam. While there are hundreds of millions of followers of Islam that do NOT share these beliefs, those who would kill the unbeliever hide themselves amongst and within the greater Islamic world.

This enemy believes they are fighting a modern-day crusade much like the ones fought in the years after their Prophet Muhammad’s death. They believe the Zionists, the Jews, are the great enemy of their religion and that the Jews must be exterminated from the earth.

America will not stand for this, and will fight to ensure that one religious nation is never allowed to persecute nor exterminate another.

This is how America behaves.

This enemy believes that the West; America and other non-Muslim nations of the world, must be forced to convert to their religious beliefs and ways of life. They believe that theirs is the one true religion, and none other can be followed. They believe that if they can kill enough of us, as terribly and horribly as possible so as to instill fear in the hearts of those of us who survive, they can force us into converting to their radical Islamic beliefs.

America will not stand for this, and will fight to ensure that one religious nation is never allowed to subjugate or terrorize another.

This is how America behaves.

This enemy believes it is acceptable to kill people in the name of their religion. They believe strapping suicide vests to themselves armed with massive amounts of explosives, or filling cars and trucks with massive amounts of explosives and detonating them in a large crowd or open market indiscriminately killing men, women, and children trying to go about living their daily lives, is expected of them and approved by their religious leaders.

America will not stand for this, and will fight to ensure that one religious nation is never allowed to indiscriminately kill the innocent in the name of their religion.

This is how America behaves.

As your President and Commander in Chief, and in accordance with the duties assigned to me by our Constitution, it is my responsibility to protect and defend this nation and her people. It is a duty I take very seriously. It is one that can never be taken lightly, and must be honored with a humility founded in the belief that we are all God’s creations and we must tirelessly and relentlessly seek ways to ensure the dignity, honor, respect, and survival of us all.

I asked this nation to remove the Taliban regime in Afghanistan to ensure that the fire of radical Islamic ideology would be put out and would not be allowed to spread further across that region. As the Taliban fell, a democratic government rose from the ashes and began to plant the seeds of new growth toward a better way of life; one of freedom, and liberty and hope.

I asked this nation to remove the Ba’athist regime of Saddam Hussein, again to ensure that the fire of radical Islamic ideology would be stamped out and prevented from further spread. In the aftermath of Saddam’s fall, a democratic government has risen and is again planting seeds of new growth. Many Iraqis are, for the first time, enjoying the taste of freedom and liberty, and hope. Sadly, not every Iraqi enjoys this new freedom, and we must do more.

Our job is not finished in Iraq for a very clear and fundamental reason; Iraq’s neighbors are unwilling to accept a free and democratic Muslim nation. The idea that Muslims can worship freely, can enjoy liberty and hope for a future for their children free from hate for Jews, and Christians and unbelievers is the greatest threat to these terrorists and the nations that fund, support, and sponsor them.

It is the fear they instill in their own people that inspires and fuels the unfounded hate they have for a people and a world with whom many have never interacted or personally met.

There are innocent people living under the terrorist rule of governments and dictators and religious leaders who will go to bed tonight, huddled in fear. There are children who will go to bed tonight, saying prayers of hate and death and hoping for the destruction of people for reasons they are too young to understand or comprehend.

America will not stand for this, and will fight to ensure that one religious nation is never allowed to do this to their people.

This is how America behaves.

The way forward in Iraq, in Afghanistan, across the Middle East and the Horn of Africa and beyond, will require much sacrifice from you, my fellow Americans. The sacrifice will not be of Soldiers and weapons and war funds alone.

I am asking you to sacrifice your biases, your misconceptions, your prejudices, and your indifference. I am asking you to remember what it means to be Americans, and to remember that there are many of our brothers and sisters around the world who are praying for hope and freedom and a chance to live without fear.

I am asking you to believe again, as our forefathers did so very long ago, that it is our calling and our duty to reach out our hand and offer these things which have been taken for granted here at home, and are but whispers of fantasy for so many less privileged than we are.

I am asking you to support the next steps in this very long war against an ideology of hate and death and destruction. I am asking you to commit yourselves to supporting our Soldiers and our nation as we press ahead with the next phase of this war.

First, I reject all calls to negotiate with terrorists or the nations and governments that provide funds and support for those who would wage jihad.

Second, I have ordered the deployment of additional forces to the Iraq theater for the sole purpose of ending the insurgency. To this end, I have asked the Iraqi government to assume primary security responsibility for the whole of the southern provinces and I have asked the Kurdish regional government to assume primary security responsibility for the Kurdish regions to the north. We will continue to offer quick-strike tactical support should the need for additional support from US and Coalition troops become necessary, and are positioning our resources accordingly to provide this support.

It is time to take the gloves off and give our enemies the only thing they understand. US and Iraqi forces will focus their efforts on securing Baghdad and the remaining hostile insurgent areas. These areas will become weapons free zones in Iraq, and will be cleared of all hostile parties.

Further, all standing militias will be disbanded and weapons, voluntarily or by force, will be turned over to the Iraqi government. No independent armed force will be allowed to stand against its fellow citizens nor its elected government. Any militia that does not come immediately into compliance will find its leadership detained and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Baghdad will be secured so the government can be afforded the opportunity to conduct the business a nation’s capitol needs to conduct-providing for her citizens. Any resistance to these efforts will be met with the full force and might of the United States Military.

Third, the United States re-iterates to Iraq’s neighbors the so-called Bush doctrine. My message to Iran and Syria and any other nation that would harbor, supply, fund or otherwise support terrorists and the jihad they wage is this:

You are either with us, or you are with the terrorists.

Should Iran and Syria choose the second option, they do so at their own peril. America will fully isolate these two nations from the rest of the world, and calls on every other nation who stands for freedom and human dignity to join us. Under existing UN resolutions, the United States will institute the prescribed sanctions, and will initiate additional sanctions to fully isolate these two rogue states from the rest of the world.

I have ordered additional Air and Naval resources to the appropriate places in the region. As your Commander in Chief, I have instructed our Military to prepare for a full blockade of all ability for Iran and Syria to conduct trade and commerce with the rest of the world should they not come into compliance with the will of the International Community.

When we are able to verify cessation of arms and fund transfers, and training and support to Hezbollah in Lebanon as well as to the terrorist organizations they support in the Palestinian Territory and various provinces inside Iraq, Syria and Iran can again be welcomed to the table of the International Community. Iran must also come into full compliance with the will of the UN, and agree to end their nuclear weapons programs. Iran will not be allowed these weapons.

Upon the return of the Israeli soldiers still held hostage in these two areas, I will call upon Congress to do their part, and appropriate an increase in funds to help rebuild Lebanon and support infrastructure and Governmental aid to the Palestinians.

Fourth, I call on Israel to end its incursions into Palestinian Territory, and I call on Palestine to end its incursions into Israeli territory, and I call for both parties to accept the right of the other to exist, and to lay down their arms against one another. The relationship between Israel and her neighbors is a critical element for bringing peace and stability to the region.

So long as there are nations who would do harm to their citizens, or harm and terrorize their neighbors, America will fight against them. So long as there are people in the world who would rather kill themselves and as many innocent people as they can in the name of a religion, America will stand up and defend the innocent. So long as my country and her people are under attack, at home or abroad, in the name of global jihad or any other radical ideology, America will fight against it.

America will fight to ensure that one religious nation is never allowed to indiscriminately kill the innocent in the name of their religion.

This is how America behaves.

May God Bless you and May God Continue to Bless the United States of America.