Countdown
After Seven Years, the State of the Union is...
By Volume 9, No. 4
AAI Countdown
Posted on Wednesday January 30, 2008
After Seven (Long) Years, the State of the Union is…
White House advisor Ed Gillespie categorized the vision laid out in President George W. Bush’s final State of the Union address as "forward-looking and action oriented," but it was obvious that after years of regurgitating bankrupt neo-conservative rhetoric and repeated saber-rattling that, as a former Clinton advisor put it, at "the State of the Union of the eighth year, reality is the guest in the balcony." Too bad that, like the other guests in the balcony, reality barely got a mention.
Shall We Parse?
After stating that America is "engaged in the defining ideological struggle of the 21st century," Bush warned of nebulous "forces of extremism," that apparently include several sovereign nation-states and an undefined and ever-morphing brand of ideology. Through his absurdly ill-defined "Global War on Terror," this president, "by framing a bigger battle between healthy nations and a marginal terrorist organization, is mightily adding to the al Qaeda mystique," notes William M. Arkin, national security correspondent for the Washington Post. Whatever iteration of al Qaeda currently operates in Iraq, it "is just one of many organized groups fighting the United States and its military coalition, fighting the Iraqi government, and seeking to create enough chaos and insecurity to defeat both."
In a complete sidestep of the 2007 National Intelligence Estimate report that determined Iran had suspended its nuclear weapons program, Bush insisted that "Tehran is developing ballistic missiles of increasing range, and continues to develop its capability to enrich uranium, which could be used to create a nuclear weapon." His insinuations are disturbingly similar to the now-infamous 16 words employed in the 2003 SOTU that alluded to fictional yellow-cake in Niger.
The speech was not all doom-and-gloom though, and it is worth noting that, despite his continued silence about the humanitarian crisis afflicting the people of Gaza, Bush did reiterate his hopes for achieving "a Holy Land where a democratic Israel and a democratic Palestine live side-by-side in peace" by the end of this year.
And finally, in what seemed to suggest an "Axis of Promise," Bush referred to inspirational "images of liberty" coming from Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan and cited other examples of progress and prosperity in these places.
From All Sides
The Republican presidential candidates were notably absent Monday night, opting for the political theater of the Florida primary over politics inside the Beltway. On campaign websites, Senator John McCain, Congressman Ron Paul and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani offered no commentary about the president’s final address to Congress and the response from former Senator John Edwards served mainly to rebut the president’s proposed economic stimulus package.
Former Governor Mike Huckabee indicated he would likely stay the proverbial course if elected, commending the "accomplishments of our warriors, under the superb leadership of General Petraeus" and urging "vigilance in the War on Terror."
Former Governor Mitt Romney, however, called for a new direction, saying that he "saw a President who recognizes that Washington has been unable to deal with many of the problems we face…[like] the ongoing threat from al Qaeda…or the need to finally secure our borders and have an immigration policy that works."
Senator Hillary Clinton dedicated much of her statement to criticizing the president for planning to bypass Congress in negotiating the future of U.S.-Iraqi security relations and noted that she was the first in Congress to propose "legislation to require the President to submit any such agreement for congressional approval."
Senator Barack Obama did not cite any specific legislative proposals, but continued his call for the "responsible withdrawal of our combat brigades" and reiterated his original opposition to the Iraq war because "it would take our eye off al Qaeda and distract us from finishing the job in Afghanistan."
