corrente

When I wasn't banging my head on the table, I scribbled a few questions and notes.

From Bush's Address to the Nation here here:

by destroying the training camps of terror and removing the regime that harbored Al Qaeda.

Surely "a" training camp? "A" regime?

And we acted in Iraq, [a] where the former regime sponsored terror, [b] possessed and used weapons of mass destruction, and for [c] 12 years defied the clear demands of the United Nations Security Council.

[a] Not AQ, certainly. [b] Not after the inspections and sanctions, and not after 1991. [c] Higher marks for UN support, though!

Some of the attackers are former members of the old Saddam regime, who fled the battlefield and now fight in the shadows. Some of the attackers are foreign terrorists, who have come to Iraq to pursue their war on America and other free nations.

And others are simply indigenous Iraqis. Funny he never uses the word "guerrillas", which is the word the military uses.

Most, but not all, of these killers operate in one area of the country.

And 70% of the population lives in this "one area," right?

The attacks you have heard and read about in the last few weeks have occurred predominantly in the central region of Iraq, between Baghdad and Tikrit ....

Artful wording! The speechwriter writes "in the last few weeks," leaving it open whether that's when the attacks occurred (no) or when most people focused on them (probably)

Two years ago, I told the Congress and the country that the war on terror would be a lengthy war ... Iraq is now the central front.

But AQ and their ilk are decentralized, as are the guerillas in Iraq. How can there be a "front" in such a war?

Enemies of freedom are making a desperate stand there and there they must be defeated.

Like the Alamo?? The flypaper theory? What is he thinking?

First, we are taking direct action against the terrorists in the Iraqi theater, which is the surest way to prevent future attacks on coalition forces and the Iraqi people.

And the American people?

Since the end of major combat operations

Gotta love the guy... He just doens't give up, does he?

I recognize that not all our friends agreed with our decision to enforce the Security Council resolutions and remove Saddam Hussein from power. Yet we cannot let past differences interfere with present duties.

Translation: We really need the money and more bodies!

Later this month, Secretary Powell will meet with representatives of many nations to discuss their financial contributions to the reconstruction of Afghanistan. Next month, he will hold a similar funding conference for the reconstruction of Iraq. Europe, Japan and states in the Middle East all will benefit from the success of freedom in these two countries, and they should contribute to that success.

Yep, I got the translation right.

We have learned that terrorist attacks are not caused by the use of strength. They are invited by the perception of weakness.

Really? AQ attacked the Twin Towers because they thought we were weak? I don't think so. They thought we were evil, not weak.

Bottom line: If you don't understand the nature of a war, the nature of the enemy, or the ground on which the war is fought, the war is going to be very long. I don't think Bush understands any of these things. And—given the two years of experience we have with the Bush gang—I cannot imagine why anyone would trust them to get the numbers right, the planning right, or to keep their words to other countries or to the American people.