Something Less Confrontational: The Speech

I was sick of hearing about the President’s stinkin’ speech several days before it was even delivered, and the speech blogstorm is mostly over by now anyway (that speech was soooo 12 hours ago!), so I’m not going to add much more about it.

• At the very beginning of the speech, just as I was noting that the president looked pretty nervous and uncomfortable, Mrs. Krehbiel said, “he looks scared.”
• Before the speech, I didn’t think the surge was a very good idea, but I admit the president made a compelling case for it.
• I like the fact that the new troops would be supporting what was described as essentially an Iraqi plan to secure Baghdad. Though I don’t think the Iraqi military is very competent, it sounds like a smart political strategy. I really hope the Iraqis follow through.
• I like that Bush made it clear the Iraqi government is on notice and we’re quickly running out of patience for their Keystone Kops routine.
• I like that we have a “green light” to go into “certain areas,” which I assume means al Sadr’s Shia militia strongholds. That will probably be messy.
• I was most surprised to hear the not-so-veiled threats against Iran and Syria. We all know they’re in there fighting against our troops by proxy, and Iran is a growing nuclear threat to the world, but it was still a bit shocking to hear such openly aggressive language in a prime-time speech.
• I’ve heard reports that the extra surge troops are basically already there, and reports that it will take 6 months to get the surge plan going. I sure hope it’s more of the former than the latter.

Like Mulder, I want to believe this surge will work, because I think it will be really, really bad for America and the Iraqi people if we don’t leave under conditions that approximate a “victory.”

Here are two good, relatively non-political views on the mechanics of the President’s New Way Forward:

• The New Iraq Strategy by Bill Roggio.
• The President’s Address: Counterinsurgency in Iraq/Countering Iran on the Counterterrorism Blog.

Thomas Krehbiel writes The Krehbiel Strikes Back, a generally centrist commentary on news, media, politics, and culture.

Related

• Iraq versus Highways
• Year End Loose Ends: Haditha
• On Riverbend
• Crooks and Liars and Elves and Unicorns
• More Republican Distractions