President George W. Bush was in our home state of Ohio, giving a speech today in Dayton. Bush offered what you might call an answer to critics of his Iraq policy, saying that it is simply not true that waging the war on terror does not involve focusing U.S. military attention in other places besides Iraq. At the National Museum of the United States Air Force, the President chastized Congress for applying pressure to remove troops from Iraq in order to focus our attention in places like Afghanistan, a known hot bed for Al Qaeda. Bush simply said, "This argument makes no sense."
Bush is expected to endorse the recommendations of General David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, who has argued that it would be ill-advised to begin a troop withdraw at this time, citing the fact that it could reverse any progress made by the "surge" effort of the last year.
Bush asked Congress and Americans to consider what the task at hand is in Iraq: "They're trying to build a modern democracy on the rubble of three decades of tyranny, in a region of the world that has been hostile to freedom. And they're doing it while under assault from one of history's most brutal terrorist networks. "When it takes time for Iraqis to reach agreement, it is not foot-dragging, as one senator described it during Congress' two-week Easter recess. It is a revolutionary undertaking that requires great courage."
This was a shot at Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) who told CNN last weekend that there is "foot-dragging on key governance questions in Iraq."
It remains to be seen how the occupation will play out, but one this is sure, President Bush will not stand for a change in course despite pressure at home and abroad.
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