PRESIDENT BUSH: A TRUE LEADER SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT

Today as we remember and celebrate the 25 million veterans who have served this nation and fought to preserve our freedom, President Bush revealed once again the true traits of the great war time leader that he is as he forcefully answered his critics from the left and set the record straight concerning The War On Terror and specifically the Iraq theatre of operations. There has been mounting pressure from the left concerning the pre-war intelligence and accusations that Bush manipulated the intel to force us into war. These lies were set straight and the world was reminded why we fight and how we got there as the President sounded forth the truth that has been intentionally twisted in order to undermine the war and the President. For those of you who missed any or all of this powerful speech following is a portion of setting the record straight.

"While it is perfectly legitimate to criticize my decision or the conduct of the war, it is deeply irresponsible to rewrite the history of how that war began. Some Democrats and anti-war critics are now claiming we manipulated the intelligence and misled the American people about why we went to war.
These critics are fully aware that a bipartisan Senate investigation found no evidence of political pressure to change the intelligence community's judgments related to Iraq's weapons programs. They also know that intelligence agencies from around the world agreed with our assessment of Saddam Hussein. They know the United Nations passed more than a dozen resolutions citing his development and possession of weapons of mass destruction. Many of these critics supported my opponent during the last election, who explained his position to support the resolution in the Congress this way: 'When I vote to give the President of the United States the authority to use force, if necessary, to disarm Saddam Hussein, it is because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a threat, and a grave threat, to our security.' That's why more than 100 Democrats in the House and the Senate, who had access to the same intelligence voted to support removing Saddam Hussein from power.
The stakes in the global War on Terror are too high, and the national interest is too important, for politicians to throw out false charges. These baseless attacks send the wrong signal to our troops and to an enemy that is questioning America's will. As our troops fight a ruthless enemy determined to destroy our way of life, they deserve to know that their elected leaders who voted to send them to war continue to stand behind them. Our troops deserve to know that this support will remain firm when the going gets tough. And our troops deserve to know that whatever our differences in Washington, our will is strong, our Nation is united, and we will settle for nothing less than victory. "

The President then went on to remind us why we fight and why this immoral and murderous enemy, the Islamic terrorist must and will be defeated. Emphasizing our resolve Bush stated emphatically, "We will never back down. We will never give in. We will never accept anything less than complete victory." Thank you Mr. President for reminding us of our enemy both at home and abroad and once again telling us that freedom will triumph over evil and will bring true and final victory. Thank you to all who have served and are serving this great nation. No amount of thanks can begin to repay you for your service and your sacrifice to protect our liberty and preserve our freedom. You are true American hero's that insure through your service to our country that this, " government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."


Ken Taylor