UPDATED: Live-Blogging President Bush’s Speech at West Point
I am listening to President Bush’s speech at West Point and thinking “Why didn’t he give this speech three years ago?”
“Long war” is the subject of this speech, and Bush is reviewing our last long war, The Cold War. Bush just praised President Harry Truman’s foresight and courage in the dark days of 1947 and 1948 – and then confronting the Communist invasion of North Korea.
Good point: “The military footprints Truman established on two continents have remained virtually unchanged until this day.”
Another: “President Truman made clear the Cold War was an ideological struggle between tyranny and freedom.”
Bush also mentioned Churchill’s Iron Curtain speech– a speech panned by many critics.
Bush is –correctly– comparing his situation to Truman’s. “President Truman laid the foundatoin for victory in the Cold War.”
He made that clear when he said: “We are laying the foundation for victory.”
Bush also looked at the difference between the USSR and Islamist terrorists. MAD worked on the SOviets– it won’t work on Islamist terrorists. But there are “important similarities.”
Like the Cold War we are fighting a murderous ideology.”
“Like the Cold War our enemy dismiises free people [as weak]…Our enemies believe that innocents can be murdered to further a political vision.”
Bush’s goal:”We will never back down we will never give in and we will never accept anything less than complete victory.”
A strategic promise that is tough to implement but must be said: “If you harbor a terrorist you are just as guilty as the terrorist and are an enemy of the United States of America.”
Bush takes on the “imminent lie” (he has always said he would act before the threat was imminent): “We will confront threats before they fully materialize.
Bush also reviews Saddam’s legacy of genocide, crime, and use of WMDs. “Today Iraq’s former dictator is on trial for his crimes and today America and the world are better off because Saddam Hussein is no longer in power.”
Bush reviewed the history-making elections in Afghanistan and Iraq.
As for Iraq, and its new government: “With the formation of this unity government the world has seen the beginning of something new, a constitutional democracy in the heart of the Middle East.”
As for allies (paraphrase here): “More than 90 nations are cooperating in the global campaign to fight terrorist financing…” US and allies have killed or disrupted Al Qaeda operatives in two-dozen countries.
The mega-threat: “The greatest danger we face is terrorists armed with weapons of mass destruction.”
[Yup. A Hell formula for the 21st century.]
Bush reviewed changes in NATO and “transformation” of US forces from “Cold War postures.” (He included troop redeployments to the US from overseas bases– changing the Turman and Eisenhower administrations’ deployment configurations.)
Now he is covering Intelligence reform and the creation of NORTHCOM (with its homeland security orientation). As for the army, he is mentioning the modular brigade structure (to paraphrase, changing the Napoleonic division structure).
Bush returns to the big picture: “We have made clear the War on Terror is an ideological struggle between tyranny and freedom.” We must “work actively and vigorously to bring freedom and justice in the world.” Our security depends “on the advance of freedom” in other nations.
“Accomodation” in the Middle East “did nothing to make us safe.” So we “are pursuing a forward strategy of freedom in the Middle East. I believe the desire for liberty is universal.” The US will stand with democratic reformers throughout the Middle East and lay “the foundations for peace for generations to come.”
Bush argues that the democratic surge (Lebanon’s Beirut spring, etc) demonstrate the appeal of liberty.
“The war began on my watch, but it’s going to end on your watch. Your generation will bring us victory in the War on Terror.”
Fine windup– praising the graduating class’ history-making potential.
Superb speech. He is attempting to build the political structure to fight the transgenerational war.
UPDATE: Here’s a link to the White House website, with the full text of President Bush’s address.
Nice post. I do have to agree with John Hinderaker’s assessment that he has actually given speeches like this before, only they have been largely unreported. When W came to speak at my graduation in 2004, he gave an incredible address along these same lines and delivered it wonderfully. Sure, the Air Force Academy was a more than friendly crowd, but having the opportunity to hear him in person definitely improved my image of his oratory skills.
Comment by Bujutsu Blogger — 5/28/2006 @ 9:00 pm
[…] Austin Bay is liveblogging President Bush’s speech. Hat tip: Michelle Malkin […]
Pingback by The Wide Awake Cafe » “Never Falter Never Quit” — 5/28/2006 @ 9:19 pm
Thank you for engaging the President’s speech. One of the things that I constantly notice is that few people actually read or listen to the president’s speeches. As a boy my father said to me ‘Don’t just read the news story about a speech - read the transcript whenever possible, because the news story may or may not give a fair interpretation of the speech.’ In those days the transcript was in the New York Times and everything President Eisenhower and his opponent Adlai Stevenson said was treated with great seriousness and respect. Today transcripts are usually just a few clicks away and yet anything the President says is quickly dismissed or ignored. It is easy to see that, however things work out, history is going to record a quite different story than what our press would have us believe because any serious historian will have to include what the president actually said.
Comment by Yankeewombat — 5/29/2006 @ 7:34 am
It is always worth looking at the transcripts as opposed to what the media says President Bush has said. In some cases, the distortion is extreme.
Comment by Harold C. Hutchison — 5/29/2006 @ 9:30 am
I laud President Bush for deciding to tell us what this was about… I wanted to hear it earlier but was disappointed. This war can be won if it is clearly stated and has real goals and objectives, not talking points. Like the Cold War it can be won, but unlike it this is not a battle of ice but of liquid, that shifts constantly and always seeks to seep into cracks to destroy. Strangely, I think that the Republic of the 19th Century stands close to where we are today. Those tools to survive and win are still there, but Congress and We the People have not been enjoined in this fight. And so the liquid seeps and flows faster than any bureaucracy can move, because that pace is glacier slow. The Federal Government cannot win this fight without We the People. We can win if given that which is available to be given is used, but to do so requires that we step away from this notion that the Nation State is all-powerful, for it is not. To fight a distributed foe that can be anywhere and nowhere, you need distributed eyes and ears and the Warrant to stop commerce flowing to Our foes. Only We the People fit that bill as Our collective lives encompass all aspects of commerce and We can see what fits and doesn’t, where goods flow and why. Government takes forever to do this as every ‘i’ must be dotted and every ‘t’ crossed, lest some little thing bring penalty. We the People will take risks for reward and damn the penalties if the cause is good and the reward just recompense to the risk. A Republic can fight and win this war. What we have today, cannot. And I dearly hope that I am wrong.
Comment by ajacksonian — 5/29/2006 @ 5:37 pm
The question is, will he get the chance to build that structure, or will he be tripped up by purists on other issues that are really small potatoes when compared to the war on terror? Face it, illegal immigration from Mexico is nothing compared to defeating Islamo-facism.
Comment by HaroldHutchison — 5/30/2006 @ 9:28 am
GWB at West Point… President Bush delivered the commencement address today to West Point’s graduating cadets. My favorite bits: The field of battle is where your degree and commission will take you. This is the first class to arrive at West Point after the attack…
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