- I don't believe his rationale that Iraq poses such an imminent threat as to necessitate war. Yes, Saddam Hussein is an aggressive threat who likely is concealing a lot of terrible weaponry. But North Korea is now openly flaunting the international community to develop nuclear weapons, will be able to use nuclear blackmail over political and economic allies like Japan and South Korea, is believed to have missile capacity to launch a nuke to the U.S. west coast, is known to support weapons programs of rogue states and to export its weaponry, and is ruled by a dictator every bit as cruel to his own people as Saddam Hussein. Sounds like a pretty big threat to me, yet for North Korea Bush only speaks of diplomacy and consulting with other countries in the region. Once again, Bush has again failed to make a case that the Iraqi threat is so dire as to require war, and left once again the suspicion that his obsession with Saddam has more to do with oil and with avenging his daddy's honor.
- He again failed to make the case for me that war is the only way to keep Saddam from using his concealed weapons. An alternative policy of keeping Saddam boxed in with heightened inspections and international pressure, while at the same time offering political incentives to Iraqi elements that might like to be rid of Saddam themselves, seems equally plausible and less risky to me. True, Saddam might find a way despite the intensified scrutiny to use his weapons against Israel or other neighbors, or to hand them off to terrorists for use against the West. But it seems equally plausible that our imminent invasion could spur him to do the same--use them or lose them.
- Bush was again unconvincing in pointing to the intelligence data we supposedly possess about the great extent of Iraq's weaponry. As a couple journalists asked, if this evidence is so clearcut, why are our allies not as convinced of his threat as we are? And if our intelligence is so detailed--how things are moved, how often, that chemical agents are stored in cars parked in suburban areas, etc.--and we share this information with inspectors, how come they can never seem to find anything?
- Bush's rosy picture of how the disparate elements of Iraqi society will miraculously form a peaceful and democratic federation after the iron rule of Saddam is removed, and which in turn will inspire democracy throughout the region, is truly embaressing. The man simply comes across as uninformed and unintelligent. You don't have to look any further than the continuing chaos in Afghanistan after we 'liberated' it to see the grave difficulties we would face in Iraq. And the Iraqis need look no further than our scant interest in Afghanistan now to see how little assistance we will really offer after we've had our way with Saddam.
- I almost choked when he proclaimed how he had taken an oath to preserve and protect the Constitution of the United States. His 'Patriot Act' and other undertakings of his Justice Department have taken a sledgehammer to much of the Constitution.
To the millions around the globe who protest his war plans, Bush simply said he was glad they had the freedom to express themselves. He certainly gave no indication that he listened to them or thought about what they said. He did, however, have a teary-eyed moment in which he said what he does hear: the thousands of prayers said for him every day. Well, I'm praying for you, Mr. Bush, and please hear my prayer: I pray that you call off your foolish war; I pray that you stop ruining our reputation in the community of nations, stop ruining our environment, stop ruining our economy; I pray, in fact that you resign. Please. You were not elected, and you are not up to the job.
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