Junto Boys

IRAQ ON PRIMARY EVE

To say the invasion of Iraq was a mistake is to forget the circumstances that led to our invasion. It’s not that Bush sent the Army over there on September 12. It was more than 18 months later. Congress passed a resolution to go to war, and the United Nations passed a resolution to stop Saddam and his weapons programs. The ball was in Saddam’s court and he could have avoided war with compliance. His defiance made war a necessity, or otherwise any resolutions passed in the future would lack the teeth of enforcement.

Quadafi gave up his weapons and the recent report says Iran stopped their program in 2003. Forget the style points for a moment and ask yourself if either result would have happened without Bush’s resolve to stop Saddam one way or the other. Both of those things could have happened without war, but only if Saddam had chosen to cooperate and the world decided to take Bush seriously. Saddam’s choice left Bush no choice.

To say that the war in Iraq is a distraction from the real war in Afghanistan ignores that there would be no action in Afghanistan either without Bush. Clinton could have and should have invaded Afghanistan after attacks in the 1990s. He didn’t have the resolve.

Clinton’s speech August 20, 1998.

A few months ago, and again this week, bin Laden publicly vowed to wage a terrorist war against America, saying -- and I quote -- "We do not differentiate between those dressed in military uniforms and civilians. They are all targets."

They bombed the Egyptian embassy in Pakistan. They gunned down German tourists in Egypt. The most recent terrorist events are fresh in our memory. Two weeks ago, 12 Americans and nearly 300 Kenyans and Tanzanians lost their lives. And another 5,000 were wounded when our embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam were bombed.

There is convincing information from our intelligence community that the bin Laden terrorist network was responsible for these bombings. Based on this information, we have high confidence that these bombings were planned, financed and carried out by the organization bin Laden leads.

He pegs Osama Bin Laden for exactly what he is, but what next?

When our very national security is challenged and when we must take extraordinary steps to protect the safety of our citizens. With compelling evidence that the bin Laden network of terrorist groups was planning to mount further attacks against Americans and other freedom-loving people, I decided America must act.

What was that extraordinary thing that he had to do?

Earlier today, the United States carried out simultaneous strikes against terrorist facilities and infrastructure in Afghanistan. Our forces targeted one of the most active terrorist bases in the world. It contained key elements of the bin Laden network's infrastructure and has served as a training camp for literally thousands of terrorists from around the globe.

We have reason to believe that a gathering of key terrorist leaders was to take place there today, thus underscoring the urgency of our actions.

Our forces also attacked a factory in Sudan associated with the bin Laden network. The factory was involved in the production of materials for chemical weapons.
The United States does not take this action lightly. Afghanistan and Sudan have been warned for years to stop harboring and supporting these terrorist groups.
But countries that persistently host terrorists have no right to be safe havens.

We begged them and they wouldn’t listen so we just had to. . . sorry. We won't do it again unless they make us.

My fellow Americans, our battle against terrorism did not begin with the bombing of our embassies in Africa, nor will it end with today's strike.

It will require strength, courage and endurance. We will not yield to this threat. We will meet it no matter how long it may take.

He nails exactly what it will take to win and his actions prove that he wasn’t up to it.

Here’s Why:

This will be a long, ongoing struggle between freedom and fanaticism, between the rule of law and terrorism.

Rule of Law! No deterrent to suicide bombers like the idea that they could go to jail.

We must be prepared to do all that we can for as long as we must. America is and will remain a target of terrorists precisely because we are leaders; because we act to advance peace, democracy and basic human values; because we're the most open society on earth; and because, as we have shown yet again, we take an uncompromising stand against terrorism.

But of this, I am also sure. The risks from inaction to America and the world would be far greater than action. For that would embolden our enemies, leaving their ability and their willingness to strike us intact.

There it is in words, the entire justification for standing up to Saddam after he thwarted the weapons inspectors.

But in this day, no campaign for peace can succeed without a determination to fight terrorism. Let our actions today send this message loud and clear: There are no expendable American targets.

There will be no sanctuary for terrorists. We will defend our people, our interests and our values. We will help people of all faiths, in all parts of the world, who want to live free of fear and violence.

This is the Bush Doctrine 2 years before Bush, just without any teeth.

We will persist and we will prevail. Thank you, God bless you and may God bless our country.

Great speech, but he didn't solve the problem and confront the terrorists. He was offering a courtroom if we could catch any of them before the detonated. Terrorist leaders in a Clinton world may have to change locations, but they weren’t ever going to see any troops on the ground.

Invasion of Afghanistan in 1998 would have prevented 9-11 just like invasion of Iraq in 2003 prevented God knows what catastrophe. I bring it up because too many of the Democrats running for President are saying that Bush took his eye off the ball in Afghanistan by invading Iraq. There would be no presence in Afghanistan without Bush. Someone needs to ask Mrs. Clinton is her husband took his eye off the ball.