| | Just finished watching President Bush's address to the nation on his new plan for Iraq. For those who missed it, the transcript is on ABC here.
In a rather short, 20 minute address, the President apologized and took the blame for the deterioration of Iraq and the US missteps which led to the current Iraq of sectarian (some would call it civil) war. He outlined a new plan, calling for the deployment of approximately 21,500 new US troops to Iraq, embedding more US advisors in Iraqi units, and essentially establishing the security of Baghdad as paramount. In addition, he stressed the need for "patience, sacrifice and resolve", and set an optimistic yet guarded hope for the coming year. He also reinforced the belief that the US must succeed in Iraq for not only the Iraqis' sake, but for the security of the entire region, and perhaps even the entire world itself. He established a conciliatory stance, welcoming criticism and suggestions, as well as reinforcing the validity of his plan with statements of consulting with not only Congress, but the Iraq Study Group on the issue. Finally, he outlined the need for the Iraqi government to take on greater responsibility, namely in reconstruction efforts (the Iraqi government has pledged $10B USD).
In my opinion, the President should be given credit for first of all apologizing publicly for his mistakes, taking the blame for the entire Iraqi conflict is a hard pill to swallow, especially when in all honesty, it is hard to blame the situation in Iraq on any one single person. In addition, the President should be commended for his new found willingness for bipartisanship and criticism, although how earnestly he applies this new attitude is still up in the air. His plan, of handing over greater security responsibilities to the Iraqi forces is, I believe, a sound one, and does pose significant deviations from current operations. Namely, the desire now to actually hold pacified areas holds merit, as this was the single greatest drawback of US/Iraqi military policy. In general, he makes a sound, clear statement of the need for perseverance and steadfast dedication to the rebuilding and fixing of Iraq. For it is his belief, and mine as well, that America cannot fail in Iraq.
Unfortunately, I must fault President Bush for his ever present "Good vs. Evil" imagery, in particular, his colorful statement, "the terrorists and insurgents...are without conscience, and will make the year ahead bloody and violent." His statements force all terrorists into an extreme corner, where they have nowhere to back down to, and MUST use violence. The President, along with the rest of the world, needs to make it clear that terrorism, while not tolerated, CAN be reformed. That is to say, terrorists, if they lay down their violent ways, will be welcome to join society and share their opinions on issues in a global forum. I believe not all terrorists are without conscience, some undoubtedly are, but most are simply normal human beings, desperate for a voice in the world. The true solution to terrorism is not their extermination, for by doing so we risk eliminating the freedom for people to voice their views. Instead, we must seek to find ways to allow terrorists a place in society, to slowly wean them away from their violent ways, to create a forum for them to present their grievances. I believe, especially with the global connectivity of the Internet, we, the entire Human Race have the power to do something we were never able to do before: provide a global forum open to everyone, from the youngest, poorest child in a Third World Country, to the most affluent senior citizens of our world. Throughout our childhood, we learned to listen to each other, and not to simply call each other names...why is the real world any different?
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| | Posted 1/10/2007 9:50 PM - 7 Views - 6 eProps - 4 comments
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