President Bush on Terror and Iraq

Earlier today, President Bush spoke about the War in Iraq and how it applies to the overall War on Terror, and at this point, the actions in Iraq are critical.

"The militants believe that controlling one country will rally the Muslim masses, enabling them to overthrow all moderate governments in the region and establish a radical Islamic empire that spans from Spain to Indonesia," Bush said.

Radical Islam has shown no slowing in the past few years. Regardless of one's opinion concerning the initial reasoning for invading Iraq, the United States is there now and has to finish the job. With much work left before fully establishing the new government and training the Iraqi military, pulling out now could spell disaster, if not for the world then at least for Iraq.

Bush said if U.S. forces withdraw from Iraq, insurgents would "use the vacuum created by an American retreat to gain control of a country, a base from which to launch attacks and conduct their war against nonradical Muslim governments."

While al Qaeda does not act very often (large-scale terror operations can be years apart), their attacks are notoriously destructive; if only al Qaeda was the sole terror threat in Iraq. While their number two operative was killed in Iraq recently, militants from al Qaeda and many other terror operations are still active. The removal of American and British troops before preperations are complete could lead to a quick coup, leaving the people of Iraq at the mercy of a government that will make Saddam Hussein look like King Arthur.

Michael Moore famously said "there is no terrorist threat" in this country. According to President Bush, that is utterly false.

Bush indicated that the public is unaware of many anti-terrorism victories. He said the United States and its allies have disrupted 10 al Qaeda terrorism plots since September 11, 2001, including three inside the United States.

While they are hardly as active here as terrorist groups are in Iraq, this is a significant block placed in front of al Qaeda. This is good news, as it confirms that intelligence has improved since September 11th. But it is also a confirmation that the War on Terror is far from over, and withdrawing troops from this operation might lead the terrorists to the belief that they are winning, and further emboldening them in future attacks. Fortunately, even considering the recent criticisms of President Bush in many domestic issues, he is still a strong leader militarily.

As for Dick Durbin,

"He owes it to the American people -- and the Democrats are calling on him to tell the American people -- how will this end? How can we measure success? How can we get beyond the generalities of the speech that we heard today?" Durbin said.

"I believe the president has offered America a false choice between resolve and retreat," Durbin said. "The real choice is between the strategy of accountability and more vague generalities. We must move beyond the policies of fear to a forceful commitment to protect the United States and its values."

His complaints are nothing more than political rhetoric; complaining of a problem without offering a solution, Durbin only looks for political gain here. Would someone please remind the esteemed senator that our own security may very well ride on the security of Iraq?

UPDATE 7:10 PM: Michelle Malkin wastes no time in further disproving Moore, noting that there is a heightened sense of alert in New York over a plot to bomb the Subway system, which is frightenly reminiscent of the attacks in London.