Democrats are criticizing President Bush for raising the Sept. 11 attacks while he defends his plan to keep U.S. troops in Iraq as long as it takes to ensure peace in the country. The president, urging patience on an American public showing doubts about his Iraq policy, mentioned the deadly 2001 terrorist attacks five times during a 28-minute address Tuesday night at Fort Bragg, N.C. Some Democrats accused him of falsely reviving the link that he originally used to help justify launching strikes against Baghdad. "The president's frequent references to the terrorist attacks of September 11 show the weakness of his arguments," House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said. "He is willing to exploit the sacred ground of 9/11, knowing that there is no connection between 9/11 and the war in Iraq." Some of us know different, Nancy.
| Dang, she's an idiot. |
| Yo, Nancy: there's the connection. |
None needed, Bozo. Work on your patience!
"We have a clear path forward," the president said. "As the Iraqis stand up, we will stand down."
Republican Sen. John McCain defended Bush's call to stop terrorism abroad before it reaches the U.S. shore in an appearance on CNN's "Larry King Live" program. He said those spreading violence in Iraq "are the same guys who would be in New York if we don't win in Iraq." Democrats criticized Bush for not offering more specifics ...
like a timetable. We want a timetable, so we can complain about that!
... about how to achieve success in Iraq along with his frequent mention of the Sept. 11 attacks.
"The president's numerous references to September 11 did not provide a way forward in Iraq," Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said. "They only served to remind the American people that our most dangerous enemy, namely Osama bin Laden, is still on the loose and al-Qaida remains capable of doing this nation great harm nearly four years after it attacked America." Right, Harry. Catch ObL and the war is all over!
Bush urged Americans to remember the lessons of Sept. 11 and protect "the future of the Middle East" from men like bin Laden. He repeatedly referred to the insurgents in Iraq as terrorists and said they were killing innocent people to try to "shake our will in Iraq, just as they tried to shake our will on September the 11th, 2001." Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., said it's because of the lessons of the Sept. 11 attacks that he opposes Bush's approach to keeping the troops in Iraq without any timetable for withdrawal.
| Let him speak! The man's obviously a military genius... |
Like moths to a flame, all these terrorists "recruited" go to Iraq. Better there than here, Russ.
| Deal with them in Fallujah or in Milwaukee, Russ. |
| We're there to kill terrs. So quit bitching about having to fight terrs. I listened to Bush's speech last night. It's the best one I've ever heard him give. Whoever wrote it had obviously read a lot of Churchill's wartime speeches, and probably recently. Churchill would have pronounced the words differently, his cadences would have been more majestic, but he'd have said much the same thing: "We shall fight, and we shall suffer perils..." |