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Some thoughts on tonight's press conference... I just hope the media doesn't continue to give this guy a free pass after this pitiful performance, spewing old sound bites and misinformation, stumbling and bumbling speech, and lack of responsiveness.
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What about Afghanistan and Al Qaeda? No mention about Al Qaeda and the status of Afghanistan (other than as part of a laundry list of other places in which our military has been involved). Where does the US stand in the capture (or mortal end) of the 22 terrorists on the "Most Wanted Terrorists" list? Where does Afghanistan stand on the road to democracy and security? Is the Taliban regaining control? Does the central government have any authority beyond Kabul? What is the situation faced by women and girls in Afghanistan, today?
Bush states, "...a desperate enemy is a dangerous enemy..." Yes, Bush is getting more desperate -- and more dangerous.
Bush stated "...terrorists ...lost an ally in Baghdad." -- Al Qaeda had no links or allegiances with Baghdad; in fact, Baghdad and Saddam Hussain were considered enemies of Al Qaeda.
In an attempt to draw a link between the Iraqi resistance and terrorism, Bush went through a laundry list of terrorist actions from the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, to Bali, to Madrid, to Israel and all the way back to the Lebanon barracks. What he fails to do is distringuish between terrorist attacks on civilian populations in sovereign nations and attacks against occupying military forces (as in Israel, Lebanon and Iraq).
Dear Dog...! During the followup press questioning, Bush continues to deceive the American people, saying, "nobody in our government, at least, and I don't think the prior government, could have envisioned flying airplanes into buildings..." (though, after a delay, he adds as a CYA qualifier, "... on such a massive scale.") Yet just a short while later in the press conference questioning, Bush comments on pre-9/11 terrorist threats related to Genoa -- which was specifically related to the threat of airplanes being flown into the Genoa conference building, and of which both he and Condoleezza Rice must have been well aware.
Bush stated, "The legacy that our troops are going to leave behind is a legacy of lasting importance, as far as I'm concerned." Continuing, "It's a legacy that, um... that really is based on our deep belief that people want to be free, and that free societies are peaceful societies." But what *IS* that legacy? How exactly will our military intervention and occupation provide any valuable lessons to the Middle East on how to peacefully progress towards their particular takes on freedom and democracy?
Ok, I can't take any more. Iraq was NOT linked to Al Qaeda prior to our destabilizing the country, and now we've created yet another culture dish for the virus of terrorism. If "now is the time to talk about the war on terror", as Bush stated, then why aren't we talking about Afghanistan, al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, Pakistan's madrassas and Saudi Arabia; rather than Bush's growing quagmire in Iraq?
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