Bush Shrugs Off Military Service Critics, Visits Louisiana National Guard

Talon News ^ | 2/18/2004 | Jeff Gannon

[Jeff Gannon]

(Talon News) -- If President Bush were feeling the least bit threatened by the controversy surrounding his military service record it didn't show Tuesday as he stood before thousands of National Guardsmen and their families at Fort Polk, Louisiana.

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan told a skeptical reporter that the visit had been planned in advance of Democrat attacks on the president's military history.

Fort Polk is home to members of the Second Calvary now deployed in Iraq. Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the post has trained and deployed more than 10,000 troops to fight the war on terror.

President Bush opened with a strong assertion saying, "There is no doubt that the enemy will be defeated and freedom will prevail."

Bush noted that the Fort Polk community is also home to thousands of veterans and retired military, some of whom were on hand for the speech. Bush praised them for their defense of America in the great struggles of the 20th century.

The president declared that the first war of the 21st century began on a September morning in 2001.

He emphatically stated, "On behalf of this nation, I made a pledge: Whether we bring our enemies to justice, or bring justice to our enemies, justice will be done."

Bush added, "And I want every American to know that I understand my job as your President. I have a duty to protect the American people and ... I will not relent until this threat to America is removed."

Bush pointed out that in the past 29 months nearly two-thirds of al Qaeda's known leaders have been captured or killed.

"When they attacked our country, the terrorists chose their own fate, and they are meeting that fate, one by one," Bush said.

The president wove the invasion of Iraq into the larger war on terror when he said success "also requires that we confront regimes that might arm terrorists with the ultimate weapon."

Bush defended his decision to confront the former regime in Iraq saying, "My administration looked at the intelligence information and we saw danger. Members of Congress looked at the same intelligence, and they saw danger. The United Nations Security Council looked at the intelligence, and it saw a danger."

Critics of the administration say the decision to invade Iraq was made using intelligence that may have been inaccurate.

Bush recalled, "In 1998, the President and the Congress made it the policy of the United States to change the regime in Iraq."

He said, "In September of 2001, America made a decision: We will not live in the shadow of gathering threats."

The president said that Saddam Hussein chose to defy demands from the United Nations Security Council for a full accounting of his weapons programs.

Bush stated the choice for America was to either "take the word of a madman, or take action to defend America and the world."

"Faced with that choice, I will defend America every time," Bush said.

The president described in detail the contents of a letter from Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi intercepted by coalition forces urging al Qaeda members to wage terrorist war in Iraq.

He said the 17-page document laid out the terrorist strategy: tear the country apart with ethnic violence; undermine Iraqi security forces; demoralize the U.S. coalition; and prevent the rise of a sovereign democratic government.

The terrorist outlined his efforts to recruit and train suicide bombers and boasted of 25 attacks on Iraqi civilians and coalition personnel.

Bush asserted that the letter proved that Iraq is now the central front in the war on terror.

"The terrorists know that the emergence of a free Iraq will be a major blow against the worldwide terrorist movement. And in this, they are correct," Bush said.

Following the speech the president ate lunch with the 39th Brigade Combat Team, an Arkansas National Guard unit that has been mobilized and due to deploy to Iraq in March. After that, Bush privately met with the families of some fallen soldiers.

Copyright © 2004 Talon News -- All rights reserved.

[jigsaw]

It is soooooooooooooo nice to read a straightforward article about President Bush.

Thanks for posting this here (and for writing so professionally!)

[Tamzee]

Are you sure you were writing about the same President Bush visiting the same National Guard in the same Louisiana?

'Cause I read the articles by AP yesterday and ... oh... wait....

Thank you :-)