ibenez wrote:

Sadly, Mr. Bush wasted his opportunity last night, giving a speech that only answered questions no one was asking. He told the nation, again and again, that a stable and democratic Iraq would be worth American sacrifices, while the nation was wondering whether American sacrifices could actually produce a stable and democratic Iraq.

Sure dude. Your hatred for Bush makes you say really stupid things.

I understand your confusion now. There have always been people wondering whether American sacrifices could actually produce a stable and democratic Iraq. The question is whether this reflects the opinion of the nation broadly. The recent Senate hearing seemed to indicate that even Republicans felt that it does reflect the opinion of the nation. Why has this point of view been rejected by Republicans until just now? Has there been a sudden shift in public opinion? I don't sense that there has been.

It has taken me a few days to digest this hearing. I think I understand now.

There is a specific reason that this point of view is suddenly being accepted, and it is because its in our interest to accept it now. The more Americans are unhappy about their involvement with the Iraq war, the more it will look like we're going to pull out. The more it looks like we're going to pull out, the more Iraq will realise that they are going to have to deal with the domestic security problems on their own, or live with them forever. The faster they get that, the faster they'll become a strong, independent nation. If we let their government hide behind our skirt they'll never have the strength to deal with the difficult international politics in the region.

Nations are founded upon shared experience. They didn't overthrow Saddam. They won't be able to look back on their history, as we do, and say "we did it." They need a formative experience. This insurgency is that experience. If they can overcome it, it will shape their national identity. We can't do it for them. If we do their country won't mean anything to them.

I'll bet the Republicans would be willing to sacrifice the 2008 presidential election if it meant scaring the Iraqis into taking responsibility for themselves, but in any event if they have to do something with makes them look bad politically, like getting a large precentage of Americans to think that Iraq is not a good place for our military to be, now is the time to do it, when they've got several years before having to face public opinion in the ballot box.

You're going to hear more of this kind of thinking. Frogs boil slow, this hearing was the first step.

RE: President Bush's Speech About Iraq - New York Times