by dancinglotus

Created on: January 14, 2007   Last Updated: April 19, 2007

I watched President Bush's recent speech on television about sending in a "surge" of 20,000+ new troops to Iraq, and watched some of the commentary afterwards on MSNBC. These are some of the thoughts and feelings I had while watching his speech:

First, I thought President Bush looked nervous, tense, well-rehearsed and almost robotic, although he still can't pronounce the word "nuclear". I also thought this was one of the best, most thoughtful speeches I have ever heard him give. He actually looked like he had the fear of God in him, for once, which I think is appropriate given the current crisis in Iraq.

However, I thoroughly disagree with his plan, this new "surge" to place over 20,000 more soldiers in Iraq, and sending 5 brigades to Baghdad. As he talked about securing the city and winning the trust of the population by having soldiers go door to door, I couldn't help but wonder if this would actually be more frightening to some of these people. Right now the Iraqis are desperate for a solution and they are looking to the U.S. to help them out of the mess we helped get them into.

I wholeheartedly agree that it is our responsibility to help the Iraqi people, and I am grateful for the extended service of our U.S. military personnel. The service of the vast majority of them has been exemplary, given the circumstances and lack of resources they were given. Those responsible for the atrocities at Haditha and Abu Garib deserve to be harshly punished, as their actions endangered ever soldier and peacekeeping force sent over there by the evil and stupidity done by a few. We all have bad apples that need to be pulled from the barrel. As an American, I am very proud and honored to say that I believe the overwhelming majority of the men and women in our U.S. military are of the highest quality and make the best apple pie we can offer a hungry world. But we can, and will do better.

I do not actually blame Malaki for wanting reinforcements, but as Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois said after the speech, "We are not 911." He said that 20,000 troops wouldn't be enough to do the job, and I agree that it is a bad idea based on politics and not what is needed right now. At best, it would only be a Band-Aid. At worst, we are all screwed. Senator Durbin suggested that the Iraqis themselves needed to step up to the plate and help rebuild and police their own country. He is right. But they do still need our help. They need us to help them rebuild their infrastructure that we helped

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