Monday, May 24, 2004
A Good Start
The President did a good, not great, but good job tonight in reminding the public of our mission in Iraq. The only awkward moment was his three different pronunciations of Abu Ghraib, but I think that will pass unnoticed. The speech provided a preliminary outline of the road ahead and a heavy tutorial of why we must succeed. We needed the former, we know the later.
The speech emphasized in numerous points how Iraq will be a fully sovereign nation come July 1st. At the same time acknowledging that the U.S. will continue to lead the multinational forces in Iraq and our forces will remain indefinitely. With violence likely to increase, as the President noted, the is a real danger that the transfer of power to the new Iraqi government will appear to be merely symbolic. U.S. Soldiers will still be fighting the fights and dying. Such dissonance could cause problems in the months ahead. But Bush's talk tonight was long in coming and much needed. He needs to continue to define the fight, or it will be defined for him.
The speech emphasized in numerous points how Iraq will be a fully sovereign nation come July 1st. At the same time acknowledging that the U.S. will continue to lead the multinational forces in Iraq and our forces will remain indefinitely. With violence likely to increase, as the President noted, the is a real danger that the transfer of power to the new Iraqi government will appear to be merely symbolic. U.S. Soldiers will still be fighting the fights and dying. Such dissonance could cause problems in the months ahead. But Bush's talk tonight was long in coming and much needed. He needs to continue to define the fight, or it will be defined for him.
