How Dare He Fight Back!

Bush Escalates Bitter Iraq War Debate

President Bush escalated the bitter debate over the Iraq war on Monday, hurling back at Democratic critics the worries they once expressed that Saddam Hussein was a grave threat to the world.

"They spoke the truth then and they're speaking politics now," Bush charged.

Bush went on the attack after Democrats accused the president of manipulating and withholding some pre-war intelligence and misleading Americans about the rationale for war.

Note the words of aggression applied to the president: “escalate,” “attack” as if the president started this crap. Because when he has the gall to defend himself against charges that he has “lied” about WMD in Iraq, he’s “escalating” the debate, he’s on the attack. Even when there are tons and megabytes of material evidence which prove that he did not lie about believing that Saddam Hussein possessed WMD, even when his assessment of the situation was in total agreement with that of the previous Democrat president, dozens of other Democrats, the Leftists’ beloved Europeans and their even more beloved UN.

Better to just lie back and enjoy being buggered by the postmodern definition of ‘lie’--by the lie about what a lie is.

However, it appears that the president is done with that. More from the Alaska speech:

Leaders in my Administration and members of Congress from both parties looked at the same intelligence on Iraq - and reached the conclusion that Saddam Hussein was a threat. Let me give you quotes from three senior Democrats: First, quote, "There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons." End quote. Here's another one, quote, "The war against terrorism will not be finished as long as Saddam Hussein is in power." End quote.

And here's the way another Democratic leader summed it up, quote, "Saddam Hussein, in effect, has thumbed his nose at the world community. And I think that the President's approaching this in the right fashion." The truth is that investigations of the intelligence on Iraq have concluded that only one person manipulated evidence and misled the world - and that person was Saddam Hussein.

Like some who read this blog, those who hurl accusations scream even more loudly when the accused defends himself. But the stakes are at the level to which President Bush can’t afford to just take the distortion of the record of events. For decades, Democrats and Leftists have attempted to shape the narrative of our nation’s strategic objectives and the motives of the objectives’ implementers (the military) by using falsehoods. Sometimes those attempts have been successful. But neither the Iraqis nor the Americans can afford for that to happen this time.

I think that those who claim that President Bush either lied about Iraqi intelligence estimates or manipulated them are hoping that the president’s defenders will simply get tired. After all, the claims of the Democrats are so preposterous and so easily refuted that it seems ridiculous to even address them. But everyone won’t look at reports from the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence or UN resolutions or even look for them. Some will simply listen to what’s broadcast over the airwaves and over cable. It's about time that this White House took advantage of that fact.

BTW, I wonder if it has occurred to the Democrats that they are claiming to have been duped by a man who they deem to be unintelligent. If not, that shows you just how strategic most Democrats are in their thinking. Answer: not at all.

UPDATE: It's like a tennis match only with infinitely higher stakes. The New York Times pushes back, but Jeff Goldstein notes that the White House is learning to return quickly and to gain service. The White House fisked the NYTimes!