Speech from the Oval

President Bush addressed the nation on Sunday night from the Oval Office, talking to the public about the issue of Iraq. He acknowledged that, dispite all outward appearances by Saddam Hussein, that the intelligence about WMD was faulty, and took full responsibility for it. "I know that some of my decisions have led to terrible loss and not one of those decisions has been taken lightly," he said. "I know that this war is controversial, yet being your president requires doing what I believe is right and accepting the consequences."

Here is an excerpt from George W. Bush's speech:

"Some look at the challenges in Iraq, and conclude that the war is lost, and not worth another dime or another day. I don't believe that. Our military commanders do not believe that. Our troops in the field, who bear the burden and make the sacrifice, do not believe that America has lost. And not even the terrorists believe it. We know from their own communications that they feel a tightening noose and fear the rise of a democratic Iraq.

It is also important for every American to understand the consequences of pulling out of Iraq before our work is done. We would abandon our Iraqi friends and signal to the world that America cannot be trusted to keep its word. We would hand Iraq over to enemies who have pledged to attack us and the global terrorist movement would be emboldened and more dangerous than ever before."

Bush also refused to commit to an "artifical timetable" created by politicans. Heh. Additionally, the President asserted that we will not make terrorist stop hating us by pulling out of the war, noting that we were not at war with terrorism on September 11, 2001.

Now, leaving politics aside and commenting on the superficial, overall, it was a pretty good speech. It was very well spoken, and he was clear and direct. I think that this will probably give his approval numbers a bit of a boost. Of course, his numbers are about at an all-time low. But when you hit rock-bottom, you can only go up from there, right?

Instead of building a story tracker, here's what I'll do instead. You can click here to see the outline of the Administration's Iraq plan, and click here to read a full transcript of the address. And you can click here and here for counter-balancing opinions.