More on the press conference: this is the part I wanted to make sure I got down, word-for-word.
The violence we are seeing in Iraq is familiar. The terrorist who takes hostages, or plants a roadside bomb near Baghdad is serving the same ideology of murder that kills innocent people on trains in Madrid, and murders children on buses in Jerusalem, and blows up a nightclub in Bali, and cuts the throat of a young reporter for being a Jew.
We've seen the same ideology of murder in the killing of 241 Marines in Beirut, the first attack on the World Trade Center, in the destruction of two embassies in Africa, in the attack on the USS Cole, and in the merciless horror inflicted upon thousands of innocent men and women and children on September the 11th, 2001.
None of these acts is the work of a religion; all are the work of a fanatical, political ideology. The servants of this ideology seek tyranny in the Middle East and beyond. They seek to oppress and persecute women. They seek the death of Jews and Christians, and every Muslim who desires peace over theocratic terror.This is what it’s all about. The rest of the dance with a hostile press was fun, but trivial. "Say you're sorry!" Whatever. Words are nice, but, to paraphase St. Paul, words without action are dead.
Words are definitely useful, but as with any other tool, the wielder must know when it's time to switch to an even more useful one, say, diplomacy by other means. Let the terrorists be 'sorry,' one way or the other.
I say end this avalanche of words (the 9/11 Commission and the rest of the useless carping), and let those who are willing to act continue to do so.
CORRECTION: The article cites the number of press conferences listed for the last five presidents up to this point in their presidencies (nearly four years in), not the total numbers for each.
