Musafir's Musings

The Same Old Refrain
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The speech writers gave it their best shot. No easy task but 40 minutes can cover a lot of ground. It did. There were some good one liners. But how did the speech play in Peoria? The President and his staff say that they do not pay attention to the polls. Some people believe them. The drop in support indicated by the polls, however, cannot be poo-poohed away. They know it and we know it.

So they resurrected the old standbys.

• 9/11 and the threat of terrorism lurking around the corner
• Great things are happening in Iraq
• Soldiers are dying for a noble cause
• Other evil doers --Iran, Syria

Threat of terrorism was the focal point. The fact is that Iraq became a hot bed of Islamic terrorists only after we went there to destroy the non-existent WMD. After that fizzled out the stated reason for our presence became establishment of a free democratic society. Plans to set up a hand-picked Iraqi government failed; the factional disputes among Shias, Sunnis and others make it clear that a stable government in Iraq is a long way off.

Saddam Hussein was an indisputable tyrant but Iraqis lived in a secular society in which women were not required to wear hijab and were free to work alongside men. The new Iraqi constitution reflects the influence of Islamic scriptures. Women's rights are in danger.

Two and half years after the war began, in Baghdad the residents do not have regular supply of power and water.

The speech might temporarily succeed in shielding the president from criticism about the mess created in Iraq and problems at home--the mounting deficit due largely to his lopsided tax cuts and the war in Iraq, the rising energy costs, and funding for reconstruction of New Orleans--but they are not going to go away.
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