Blind Man's Bluff

What a speech. It turns out that the "Global Struggle Against Terror" is just like fighting communism.

"Like the ideology of communism, our new enemy is dismissive of free peoples, claiming that men and women who live in liberty are weak and decadent."

"And Islamic radicalism, like the ideology of communism, contains inherent contradictions that doom it to failure. By fearing freedom -- by distrusting human creativity, and punishing change, and limiting the contributions of half the population."

Bush is trying hard to change the "Iraq equals Vietnam" meme to "war in Iraq equals war against communism." Bush is determined, and, he can count to four...

First, we're determined to prevent the attacks of terrorist networks before they occur.

Second, we're determined to deny weapons of mass destruction to outlaw regimes, and to their terrorist allies who would use them without hesitation.

Third, we're determined to deny radical groups the support and sanctuary of outlaw regimes.

Fourth, we're determined to deny the militants control of any nation, which they would use as a home base and a launching pad for terror.

Now if he would just tell us what actions this determination will bring, that would be nice. All the action is in Iraq, and apparently we're supposed to forget we should have never started this war in the first place.

"Some observers also claim that America would be better off by cutting our losses and leaving Iraq now. This is a dangerous illusion, refuted with a simple question: Would the United States and other free nations be more safe, or less safe, with Zarqawi and bin Laden in control of Iraq, its people, and its resources?"

So Zarqawi and bin Laden will become communist leaders in Iraq if we leave? I'm scared. Not. Bush didn't need a long speech, this sentence at the end would have been enough...

We don't know the course of our own struggle -- the course our own struggle will take -- or the sacrifices that might lie ahead.