A Clear Choice

President Bush just finished his televised speech on Iraq. The speech was designed to shore up flagging public support for the war, and to remind Americans why winning in Iraq is so important to our security.

While it's difficult for me to know for sure (how some people can change their minds every month on the most momentous issue of our time is unfathomable to me), I think Bush did what he set out to do. His delivery was straightforward, and his manner genuine. No doubt the Bush-hating Left will erupt with rage because the President dared to (correctly) reiterate that the only real hope to win the war on terrorism is to fundamentally transform the conditions that give rise to radicalism in the first place. For all their whining about addressing the "root causes" of terrorism, leftists seem strangely unwilling to support a war that seeks to do just that.

President Bush's tribute to the troops was classy, genuine, and deeply moving. Contrast that respect with the defamatory rhetoric eminating almost daily from the Dick Durbin wing of the Democratic party. It's no wonder why our soldiers are so overwhelmingly supportive of their commander-in-chief, and so distrustful of his opportunistic political opponents.

The terrorists know what is at stake in Iraq; Americans must know as well. No matter what one's feelings about the justifications used to launch the Iraq war, there is no denying that Iraq is now the central front of the global war on terrorism. Our strategic focus should be on victory, not on a quick, artificial timeline for retreat.