Victory In Iraq - But What About The Rest Of The War?

President Bush gave another Iraq speech today. Pretty much old hat if you actually know what's going on in Iraq, but absolutely necessary given the Democrats stubborn insistence upon pushing the Big Lie to transform Operation Iraqi Freedom into Vietnam v. 2.0.

For Jed Babbin - with whose take I comprehensively agree - it was a case of a glass half full.

There's the good....

The President has finally engaged. We can quibble about what he said, but he's finally put the Dems on the defensive. Of course they were talking about quitting and running. Of course none of them were asking how we could win. Of course they were all saying it's unwinnable, a war based on lies, another Vietnam. Now they have been called on it, and they're toppling like a house of cards in a high wind. Messrs. Bush and Cheney have found the right tone. They need to keep singing long, loud and continuously.

The bad....

The biggest and most obvious problem with this is that almost nothing is said about the wider war. The president is making the same enormous mistake he has made since 2003 by implying that once Iraq is over, the war is over. It is essential to lay out our goals for Iraq. But to do so without saying that they are only one step in the war - and in the context of defining victory in the global war on terrorists and the nations that support them - weakens the case on Iraq.

And the ugly - or perhaps, since the designated Donk responder was the Boston Balker, who appeared to be in full magic hat fantasist mode, I should say the goofy.

Keep 'em coming, Mr. President. Just expand the scope and we might get home yet.