A "Remarkable" Speech- part 3

In his speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars on August 22, President Bush repeated some of his favorite, discredited arguments. Here are three, helpfully included in the same paragraph:


As we saw on September the 11th, a terrorist safe haven on the other side of the world can bring death and destruction to the streets of our own cities. Unlike in Vietnam, if we withdraw before the job is done, this enemy will follow us home. And that is why, for the security of the United States of America, we must defeat them overseas so we do not face them in the United States of America. (Applause.)


There was a "terrorist safe haven on the other side of the world" as of September 10, 2001. Following the attacks of 9/11/01, United States forces, as directed by President Bush and supported by vitually every member of Congress from both parties, invaded Afghanistan and removed the Taliban, ally of al-Qaeda. Now, our resouces go to Iraq instead of Afghanistan, where, according to the Telegraph of the United Kingdom, as of mid-2006 "the country is facing its worst crisis since the Taliban was overthrown."

Will the "enemy" really "follow us home?" Probably no more than the enemy followed home the eighteen nations which were part of the "Coalition of the Willing" in 2003 which since have withdrawn their troops. Does George W. Bush believe that "the enemy will follow us home"if American troops are withdrawn from the Middle East? He apparently didn't believe it when he withdrew virtually all American troops from the kingdom of Saudia Arabia in spring of 2003.

Must we "defeat them overseas so we do not face them in the United States of America?" If "them" is the group of insurgents and terrorists (and al-Qaeda is only a small portion of the violent forces) in Iraq, not likely. If "them" is al-Qaeda, perhaps we should fight them, rather than pursuing in Iraq a war which is spawning more terrorists. Just a thought.