State of Duh Union
All eyes were on George W. Bush last night, as he delivered his seventh state of the union address:
"For too long our nation has been dependent on foreign oil. And this dependence leaves us more vulnerable to hostile regimes, and to terrorists -- who could cause huge disruptions of oil shipments, and raise the price of oil, and do great harm to our economy.
It's in our vital interest to diversify America's energy supply -- the way forward is through technology."
Duh. A school child could have told you that 20 years ago - I know that because I was that child. So why has nothing been done?
"This war is more than a clash of arms -- it is a decisive ideological struggle, and the security of our nation is in the balance. To prevail, we must remove the conditions that inspire blind hatred, and drove 19 men to get onto airplanes and to come and kill us...
So we advance our own security interests by helping moderates and reformers and brave voices for democracy."
So why do you keep supporting undemocratic regimes while destroying those societies that do want to progress?
"If American forces step back before Baghdad is secure, the Iraqi government would be overrun by extremists on all sides. We could expect an epic battle between Shia extremists backed by Iran, and Sunni extremists aided by al Qaeda and supporters of the old regime. A contagion of violence could spill out across the country -- and in time, the entire region could be drawn into the conflict."
Of course, this is a situation that Bush himself created, but he is right in that failure is no longer an option. The troop surge may well be too little too late, and it's been tried before, but it's better than just walking away.
