What Bush Should Say
By Chris Weinkopf
FrontPageMagazine.com | August 21, 2002
(Author’s note: If Democrats want President George W. Bush to provide an explanation for taking the War on Terror to Iraq, let him give it. The following is my proposed text.)
MY FELLOW AMERICANS:
A few short hours ago our country began its next phase in the War on Terror—the liberation of Iraq. At this very moment, our planes are methodically taking out Saddam Hussein’s military installations, government facilities, and infrastructure. In due time, our ground forces will join the battle. Their work will not be complete until Saddam has been removed from power, until Iraq is free, and its threat to the peace-loving world has been eliminated.
On this evening, our hearts and prayers are with those brave servicemen and women who are risking their lives for our freedom. Our debt and gratitude to them are beyond calculation. They humble us with their sacrifice and inspire us with their dedication.
When I spoke before Congress and the nation last September, ours was a country still grieving in the face of attack, yet resolute in her commitment to deliver a swift and overwhelming defeat to the forces of evil. Tragedy did not make us weak, as our enemies had hoped. Instead, it made us even stronger. Those images of collapsing buildings, of innocents leaping to their deaths, seared our minds, while those words, “Let’s roll,” echoed in our ears and beat in our hearts.
On that night, we as a nation, committed ourselves to doing whatever it would take to make our world safe for freedom. We had been drawn, against our will and our very nature, into a war that we would not lose—no matter how long it would take, how hard we would have to fight, or where the mission might bring us.
While the road ahead was unclear, we were certain about the ultimate destination: complete and total victory.
My fellow Americans, I want to salute you for the way we have come together to win this war. What began with the resistance of those brave souls aboard flight 93, quickly moved to the efforts of law enforcement to find and capture the evil-doers on our very soil, those plotting the next lethal attack.
At this moment, I would especially like to salute Attorney General John Ashcroft and Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge for the extraordinary efforts they have made toward making our planes, our public places, and our society safer. Theirs is an enormous task, and with the help of thousands of loyal government employees and millions of other concerned citizens, they have performed it valiantly.
cont'd frontpagemag.com |
