Moonage Political Webdream

Two unrelated stories came together to me that IMO fully explains the paradox the libs are stuck in right now.

PART ONE

The President’s State of the Union Speech, 2002:

…….Our nation will continue to be steadfast and patient and persistent in the pursuit of two great objectives.  First, we will shut down terrorist camps, disrupt terrorist plans, and bring terrorists to justice.  And, second, we must prevent the terrorists and regimes who seek chemical, biological or nuclear weapons from threatening the United States and the world. 

Our military has put the terror training camps of Afghanistan out of business, yet camps still exist in at least a dozen countries.  A terrorist underworld — including groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, Jaish-i-Mohammed — operates in remote jungles and deserts, and hides in the centers of large cities.

While the most visible military action is in Afghanistan, America is acting elsewhere.  We now have troops in the Philippines, helping to train that country’s armed forces to go after terrorist cells that have executed an American, and still hold hostages.  Our soldiers, working with the Bosnian government, seized terrorists who were plotting to bomb our embassy.  Our Navy is patrolling the coast of Africa to block the shipment of weapons and the establishment of terrorist camps in Somalia.

My hope is that all nations will heed our call, and eliminate the terrorist parasites who threaten their countries and our own.  Many nations are acting forcefully.  Pakistan is now cracking down on terror, and I admire the strong leadership of President Musharraf. 

But some governments will be timid in the face of terror.  And make no mistake about it:  If they do not act, America will.  (Applause.)

Our second goal is to prevent regimes that sponsor terror from threatening America or our friends and allies with weapons of mass destruction.  Some of these regimes have been pretty quiet since September the 11th.  But we know their true nature.  North Korea is a regime arming with missiles and weapons of mass destruction, while starving its citizens.

Iran aggressively pursues these weapons and exports terror, while an unelected few repress the Iranian people’s hope for freedom.

Iraq continues to flaunt its hostility toward America and to support terror.  The Iraqi regime has plotted to develop anthrax, and nerve gas, and nuclear weapons for over a decade.  This is a regime that has already used poison gas to murder thousands of its own citizens — leaving the bodies of mothers huddled over their dead children.  This is a regime that agreed to international inspections — then kicked out the inspectors. This is a regime that has something to hide from the civilized world.

States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world.  By seeking weapons of mass destruction, these regimes pose a grave and growing danger.  They could provide these arms to terrorists, giving them the means to match their hatred.  They could attack our allies or attempt to blackmail the United States.  In any of these cases, the price of indifference would be catastrophic.

I included the extended version of that segment of his speech for a specific reason.  Bush’s first goal was "shut down terrorist camps, disrupt terrorist plans, and bring terrorists to justice."  The second goal was "to prevent regimes that sponsor terror from threatening America or our friends and allies with weapons of mass destruction. "

PART TWO

NBC News has learned that long before the war the Bush administration had several chances to wipe out his terrorist operation and perhaps kill Zarqawi himself but never pulled the trigger.

In June 2002, U.S. officials say intelligence had revealed that Zarqawi and members of al-Qaida had set up a weapons lab at Kirma, in northern Iraq, producing deadly ricin and cyanide.

The Pentagon quickly drafted plans to attack the camp with cruise missiles and airstrikes and sent it to the White House, where, according to U.S. government sources, the plan was debated to death in the National Security Council.

Some libs are using this story as a slap against Bush going into Iraq.  Here’s the paradox:, seems like the libs are using the "we coulda taken out Zarqawi" argument to debunk the second goal, but totally ignoring the first goal.  None of them seem to remember that the first goal, the one I was most concerned with, was dealing with terrorism, period.

This paradox is manifested with Boxer’s attack on Rice:

And this from a war that was based on what everyone now says, including your own administration, were falsehoods about WMDs, weapons of mass destruction. And I’ve had tens of thousands of people from all over the country say that they disagree — although they respect the president — they disagree that this administration and the people in it shouldn’t be held accountable.

…..Well, with you in the lead role, Dr. Rice, we went into Iraq.

First of all, Bush speaking to the joint houses would be considered "the" lead role.  Second, Bush’s stated objective was not WMD’s, it was dealing with terrorism.  What has happened is the libs are now using PART TWO to debunk PART ONE when PART TWO actually confirms PART TWO.

Now, follow this pretzel logic for just one second if everyone doesn’t mind.  If you deal with the terrorists, do you have to worry about terrorists obtaining WMD’s?

The libs, by arguing we could have taken out the worst terrorist of them all before we invaded, are confirming the intent of Bush’s first stated goal he gave in the speech that Ms. Boxer is now claiming was full of lies created by Rice.  Which is it Ms. Boxer, Ted Kennedy, etc…?  Did Bush have justification under his stated objectives he announced to all of Congress and the entire world by going into Iraq to bust the Zarqawis or not?  His primary goal was not WMD’s, it was to bust the Zarqawis. The problem this paradox creates is that the average person knows that much.

Technorati Tags: National Politics

Tags: National Politics

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