Taking the fight to the enemy...

By Mark Alexander · Friday, August 1, 2003

President George Bush met the media this week -- and survived! On the subject of Iraq, the President stated plainly, "There is no doubt in my mind… that Saddam Hussein was a threat to the United States' security, and a threat to peace in the region. And there's no doubt in my mind that a free Iraq is important. It's got strategic consequences for not only achieving peace in the Middle East, but a free Iraq will help change the habits of other nations in the region, which will make America much more secure."

The President's remarks come three months after cessation of major hostilities in Iraq. The lights are back on, the water is running and the market shelves are filling up. The new 25-member Iraqi Governing Council is meeting regularly, and will begin drafting a new constitution, with free elections to follow. Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a Shi'ite Muslim and leader of the Islamic Dawa Party, is slated to become the first interim president. Asked by some nescient reporter about how long it is taking to put Iraq back on a solid democratic footing, Mr. Bush responded, "I never expected Thomas Jefferson to emerge in Iraq in 90 days time. It took us a while to go from the Articles of Confederation to the United States Constitution."

Current estimates of this year's costs of relief and reconstruction in Iraq are $7.3 billion, in addition to the $4 billion per month to sustain U.S. troops stationed there. Clearly, creating stability through democracy isn't cheap, but such costs pale in comparison with a nuclear WMD attack against a major U.S. urban center.

Of course, the President was asked about those now-infamous 16 words in his February SOTU. "I take personal responsibility for everything I say," responded Mr. Bush. "I also take responsibility for making decisions on war and peace," he added, "and I analyzed a thorough body of intelligence -- good, solid, sound intelligence -- that led me to come to the conclusion that it was necessary to remove Saddam Hussein from power."

On that subject, weapons inspector David Kay, fresh back from Iraq, appeared in closed session testimony before the U.S. Senate on Thursday, emerging to hint that those harping over those aforementioned 16 words need prepare for a crow dinner. But the evidence is going to be very thoroughly "vetted" before being made public.

Saddam Hussein also spoke to the press this week in a taped message that intelligence sources indicate is, most likely, really him. He ranted about the "martyrdom" of his progeny, calling their deaths "good news" -- which, as Friend of The Federalist Ann Coulter notes, "is more than the Democrats have said." We anxiously await "good news" of Saddam's "martyrdom."

In the wake of the termination of breathing rights for Odai and Qusai Hussein, U.S. Special Forces received hundreds of leads on the whereabouts of Saddam's other senior Ba'athist principals, capturing 700 in the last week, and closing in on Saddam himself. Asked how close we are to capturing Saddam, President George Bush declared, "Closer than we were yesterday."

The Army's 4th Infantry "Digital Division" is using its considerable technical capabilities -- surveillance satellites and unmanned aerial drones -- to assist in the hunt for Saddam, but Lt. Col. Ted Martin, the division's operations officer, noted, "I don't think it's going to be a satellite that catches Saddam Hussein -- I think it's going to be a soldier with a rifle."

Since the conclusion of Operation Iraqi Freedom, 248 American have died in theater -- most of them combat-related fatalities. But at least two infantrymen died recently from an illness similar to SARS-related pneumonia, though of unknown origin. Another 19 soldiers are sick with similar conditions and have been evacuated to an isolation unit in Landstuhl, Germany.

In other news...

Saudi foreign minister Prince Saud al-Faisal paid a visit to the White House Wednesday to register his objection to the Bush administration's refusal to declassify 28 pages of the just-released 900-page congressional report on 9-11 -- specifically, the part pertaining to a "foreign nation" that was a key source of funding and support for al-Qa'ida, Saudi Arabia. The President responded that "declassification of that part of the document would reveal sources and methods that would make it harder for us to win the war on terror.... It would help the enemy...." Take your seat, Prince Saud.

Quote of the week...

"Our coalition forces are taking the fight to the enemy in an unrelenting campaign that is bringing daily results. Saddam Hussein's sons did not escape the raids, and neither will other members of that despicable regime." --George W. Bush (Oorah!)

News from the Swamp...

In the Executive Branch, President Bush hosted meetings in quick succession with new Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas late last week and with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon this week -- meetings, we might add, that would not have been possible except for the demise of Iraq's Saddamite regime. And Mr. Bush does seem to be making progress, albeit slowly, along the so-called "road map" to Israeli-Palestinian peace.

At the same time, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay addressed Israel's Knesset, saying in conclusion, "In short, it is the position of the people of the United States, as expressed by their representatives in Congress, that Israel's fight is our fight. And so shall it be until the last terrorist on earth is in a cell or a cemetery."

On the Hill, members departed the swamp for August recess this week, exhausted after running up a $455-billion deficit! Before leaving, they did identify two areas for some minor savings, voting 260-161 for an amendment to defund any effort by U.S. marshals to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the rotunda of the Alabama Supreme Court building, as ordered by a federal appellate court. "None of the funds appropriated in this [bill] may be used to enforce the judgment of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in [the Ten Commandments case]," said Rep. John Hostettler's amendment.

The Federalist has closely tracked the suit against Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore brought by a "who's who" of Leftist cadres using their Leftjudiciary minions to adulterate the Constitution and force the removal of the monument. Judge Moore has decided not to ask the 11th Circuit to reconsider an earlier appellate ruling, petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case instead.

On a similar note, passing by 307-119 was another Hostettler amendment to defund any effort by the Ninth Circus Court of Appeals in California to enforce its errant ruling that the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance are unconstitutional and must not be uttered by schoolchildren. (We are encouraged the legislative branch is exercising its constitutional prerogative to curb extra-constitutional judicial activism.)

In other House news, members voted out measures for $90 billion for veterans, housing and related programs, 316-109, and $984 million in disaster relief. Veterans groups unsuccessfully attempted to defeat the former bill until $1.8 billion in added health-care funds promised by Republican leaders were restored.

Before leaving town, Demo Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee played a bizarre race-card! "All racial groups should be represented," protested Lee. "Represented" in what now, you ask? It seems Ms. Lee is upset that there are no ethnic-sounding "African-American" names planned for this year's hurricanes. (We contacted her office for a list, but got no reply.)

And last...

According to the French Tourism Ministry (if you can trust their figures), the number of Americans visiting France in the first six months of this year has declined by almost 80% over last year. The Tourism Ministry attributes the drop "mainly to the weak dollar." We think there might be other reasons...and suspect our readers know some of them. Give us your "Two Cents" on why the number of Americans visiting France has declined. For example: "Because we already liberated France from the Nazis."