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January 11, 2007Speech and reactions - UPDATES
I’m probably the last kid to write something on the president’s speech last night - had other stuff going on - so I’m going to assume you guys have seen most of the “big fish” reactions. My own? I thought it was a good speech, not delivered as well as some past Bush speeches, but well enough. I was glad to hear that this new tactic would also mean a change in how some things are done. I pray it will be enough to turn things around so that we might finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. But I think it will be a hard year. I also think it’s good to hear a president admit a mistake in war (what war has ever gone perfectly) and to take full responsibility. In this day and age, where politicians continually point fingers elsewhere, that’s refreshing. I don’t have to say any more than that because everyone else is writing up a storm, so let’s look at some of it. Jules Crittenden applauds Bush for embodying what his idea of real “leadership” is. He has a good roundup of others reactions, encapsulating their sentiments with each link, but his essay is also very good - very realistic and not sunny: The most immediate pitfall I see looming is that enemy has a headsup, and will attempt to melt away, using its advantage as an irregular native force to cache its weapons and stand on the street corner, whistling and acting normal, to bide its time. This is why there must be provocations to draw them out. For starters, the beseiging and seizure of Moqtada al-Sadr and other criminal leaders, responsible for the murder of thousands. Relentless raids on their stronghold neighborhoods. It won’t be pretty. As he said, there will be bloody days ahead. UPDATE: Jules has a new piece on cultivating the mindset to go into battle that is a must-read. Ed Morrissey says Maliki may be more on board than the NY Times says. CBS’ Dick Meyer counts all the different ways the president is alone in this piece, which makes Johnson/Vietnam comparisons and complains that we just don’t know this presdient very well. I don’t know how important it is for us to see a president dissembling and I think perhaps along with the Johnson/Vietnam comparisons, he could have included some Lincoln/Civil War comparisons which might be even more apt and which might have really given us something to think about (in terms of how time changes perceptions but some things never change) but read it for yourself and see what you think. At NRO’s The Corner Michael Ledeen wonders we just declared war on Iran and Syria, while Larry Kudlow is saying the markets have confidence in Bush’s plan. We’ll see on both matters, won’t we? Bill Roggio, who has been blogging from Iraq shares his thoughts on the speech. The kids at HRP meanwhile look at why it takes so long to train Iraqi security and troops. Wizbang has lots of commentary. Lorie looks at the speech and some reaction, JayTea reviews where he thinks we went wrong in Iraq and Kim Priestap says “It has begun” as reports begin to come in about our troops in the Iranian consulate. Since the source is Iran, maybe let’s wait and see if that’s true? UPDATE: “At the Pentagon, a senior U.S. military official said the building was not a consulate and did not have any diplomatic status.” Mac’s Mind says the troops are getting a distinctive message from the left. AJ says America always defies pessimists. Michelle Malkin is blogging from Baghdad. Gotta run, things to do - back later! http://theanchoressonline.com/2007/01/11/speech-and-reactions/trackback/ 10 Responses to “Speech and reactions - UPDATES” |
January 11th, 2007 at 1:35 pm
[...] Others: LGF AJ Strata The Anchoress Atlas Shrugs takes a look at Iran’s secret plan to create chaos in Iraq and links to video. The Anchoress linked with Speech and Reactions [...]
January 11th, 2007 at 1:49 pm
[...] She also has her thoughts plus a list of posts and links to other reactions to the speech. [...]
January 11th, 2007 at 3:52 pm
President Bush’s Speech - Reactions Around The Blo
Instead of a typical Web Reconnaissance today, I decided to roam through the blogs both on the left and the right to see what the consensus was concerning President Bushs speech last night.
January 11th, 2007 at 5:00 pm
It was a good speech, but what really counts are results. I don’t need presidential tears or mea culpas, just a plan for victory.
January 11th, 2007 at 5:07 pm
In and Out Surge
The Anchoress has a roundup of reactions to Bush’s speech, and the state of the war right now….
January 11th, 2007 at 8:23 pm
I didn’t see the speech on tv, I was busy with family stuff but I did read it on the internet. Our President is a man of courage and great strength. The weight of the world is on his shoulders and I think he could use a little support right now. It would be easy for me to say what should or should not be done because I have no responsiblity and no consequences if I make the wrong one. I can say and think all I want but then again I don’t have all the information he has or the advisors and military brains who know what they’re doing. (I hope anyway.) He knows things we don’t and maybe I don’t want to know just how much danger we are in. I need some security, but I know enough to trust him. He is human and is doing the best he can and for that I am grateful. to expect perfection is unfair and naieve, no-one can forsee the future and account for all the variables that come with war and human nature. We just put in the best people we can, replace them when necessary, and do the best we can. no-one should be held to perfection, especially in times of war when other peoples actions cause an abrupt change in stratgey. in battle things contstantly are changing. well anyway he has my full support and especially my prayers. It must be a terrible thing to ask people to defend their country knowing that many will die doing so. It is a burden I will try to help him bare by with- holding my criticism and praying for him and our service men and women.
January 11th, 2007 at 9:42 pm
We should always hope for the best, but I think we should prepare for the worst.
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There are those who cannot disabuse themselves of the notion that merely because we are Americans we can win any battle or any war that we choose, no matter what strategic or tactical decisions that we make. The President is obviously one of these, and most of the people you link to are, as well.
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Perhaps they are right. Though I think the evidence of history tells us that no one can make that claim. At least in war, people who say “failure is not an option” are fools. In war, failure is always an option and is never wholly under anyone’s control even when you make the best decisions.
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It had better succeed, and succeed quickly, if we want to have a military left. Delve deeply enough into these things on the public record and you will find that the most dangerous cost of this war has been the steady deterioration of our readiness to fight anyone anywhere else. The President, from the first, has bet the farm not only on our power, but also on our luck. For no war has ever been won without both.
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The die, however, is cast. The original Congressional authority to start and sustain this war is still in force, I believe, so, for good or ill, we will abide the result.
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And, presumably, we will be told constantly by the White House of the plan’s success, whether it is succeeding or not. For I see no reason why there should be a change in this long-standing habit.
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Nothing has been more destructive than this. Nothing. Not the deaths, not the failures, not the dissent, nor the savaging of the dissenters with scurrilous abuse.
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As in Vietnam, the folly of constantly telling the public about a success that was never there has eaten away public confidence and trust, perhaps beyond restoration in this quarter century, especially since there are still living memories of exactly the same failure thirty-five years ago.
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So, hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. The worst will be far worse for those who have never been realistic about the limits of military power applied without reflection and with boundless overconfidence in the face of its limits.
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For, if the worst comes, the lost of confidence and trust in these fine folks–in government or out of it–will outlast the graves of all of us and is already altering the political landscape of this country even as we speak.
January 12th, 2007 at 12:23 am
Talk about living in time warp.
You’re right, Joe. Future wars will be fought as quick ins-and-outs. Administrations won’t listen to Dems and the Left on talk shows saying that we need to commit to a decades-long nation building process. When critics say “Won’t the place be more dangerous than it was before?” people will say if it becomes a threat again, we’ll blast them to the stone-age again.
Feeling proud now?
Then there is a tactic that has never been tried before, a simultaneous attack on the Left whenever any military operation commences. Make it a Constitutional Amendment.
January 12th, 2007 at 6:19 am
Don’t question the Sellouts’ Patriotism!
The New York Times had a succinct reaction to President Bush’s speech: “President Bush told Americans last night that failure in Iraq would be a disaster. The disaster is Mr. Bushs war, and he has already failed…”
January 12th, 2007 at 9:54 am
The Sellouts DESERVE to have their common sense AND patriotism questioned. The congressional members who refuse to consider the well being and safety of the people they were elected to represent are “bad employees” and the mainstream media are completely unprofessional.
As many before me have said, the Dems were NOT elected to sell out their nation to a bunch of raving Islamofascist thugs!