Wow

It looks like GW has been taking lessons from Tony Blair. I haven't heard the speech, but the text of it is amazing. I challenge anyone to retort to the speech or any element of it.

Money quotes:

"Over the years these extremists have used a litany of excuses for violence -- the Israeli presence on the West Bank, or the U.S. military presence in Saudi Arabia, or the defeat of the Taliban, or the Crusades of a thousand years ago. In fact, we're not facing a set of grievances that can be soothed and addressed. We're facing a radical ideology with inalterable objectives: to enslave whole nations and intimidate the world. No act of ours invited the rage of the killers -- and no concession, bribe, or act of appeasement would change or limit their plans for murder." Note - Chris Hitchens writes about why trying to figure out policy reasons for Islamic terror is fruitless.

"There's always a temptation, in the middle of a long struggle, to seek the quiet life, to escape the duties and problems of the world, and to hope the enemy grows weary of fanaticism and tired of murder. This would be a pleasant world, but it's not the world we live in. The enemy is never tired, never sated, never content with yesterday's brutality. This enemy considers every retreat of the civilized world as an invitation to greater violence. In Iraq, there is no peace without victory. We will keep our nerve and we will win that victory."

UPDATE: If I understand Nate's response, the question he wants answered is: Why Iraq? Why then and why now? What are the concrete goals, how do we measure progress, etc.? I agree we should have those things laid out, which I think we do to a certain extent - elections, ratification of an Iraqi constitution, etc.

But I think it is misleading to suggest that we should know when Islamic terrorism will stop - in Iraq and at home. We cannot know the answers to these questions - but I do know that if we back away and take the easier road of isolation, allowing Iraq to be a terror state under Saddam or under Zarqawi, that we ensure the struggle will be that much longer.