Good evening. In the life of all free nations, there come moments that decide the direction of a country and reveal the character of its people. We are now at such a moment. In Iraq, an ally of the United States is fighting for its survival. Terrorists and extremists who are at war with us around the world are seeking to topple Iraq’s government, dominate the region, and attack us here at home. If Iraq’s young democracy can turn back these enemies, it will mean a more hopeful Middle East and a more secure America. This ally has placed its trust in the United States. And tonight, our moral and strategic imperatives are one: We must help Iraq defeat those who threaten its future and also threaten ours…
If you’re watching Bush speak tonight, one thing you won’t hear from him tonight is the revelation about the lack of progress on benchmarks. A new White House report on Iraq will show improved progress on just one of 18 political and security goals: efforts to allow some former members of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party to rejoin the political process, a senior administration official told The Associated Press. The latest conclusions, being released Friday, largely track a comparable poor assessment in July. The earlier report said the Iraqi government had made satisfactory gains toward eight benchmarks, unsatisfactory marks on eight and mixed results on two. In the new report, the Iraqi government showed movement on only one of the benchmarks — enacting and implementing legislation on so-called “de-Baathification, which put the goal in the satisfactory category, said the official, who spoke Thursday night on condition of anonymity because the report had not been made public.
Tonight, Bush will talk about progress and success. Tomorrow, we’ll learn from his administration that he’s lying.
Yesterday, I spent the day with my younger sister who is a reading specialist in the public school system and a darn good one and my Mom whiowill be 83 on Sunday and a dear friend of the family who is 84. My husband had Keith Olbermann on and my sister remarked “don’t they have anything nice to say on the news anymore, they just criticize and complain.” My 84 year old friend shot a glance to me across the table and I knew what she was thinking. Most people don’t want to hear bad news, they want happy talk to make them feel good. Keith was talking about Iraq War and how the war wasn’t going well and how other people felt about the surge. My friend grabbed me and took my aside and said don’t worry you can watch this show again later tonight. This is why we are still in a war all these years and after we were lied into war by Bush. There was no outrage toward Bush just about the news shows reporting on the war. What do we do to get these people involved, even at this late date? I guess your wife is right about the 30% of the people who are still with W.