Comments on: Bush Surge Speech – Reaction Roundup

By: Media Lies

Media Lies — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 22:14:50 +0000

I haven't commented on the President's speech.......

....because I needed time to reflect on what he said. My initial reaction was that his delivery was dull and uninspiring. The words he chose, however, were a different story. Was this really a new strategy? Or was it more of the same?

......

By: LJD

LJD — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 15:03:24 +0000

In light of your defense of their 'rights' we had a damn good reason to go in. I'm sure the Iranians appreciate your support though.

By: Daily Pundit » The Computer Says…Nein

Daily Pundit » The Computer Says…Nein — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 18:07:11 +0000

[...] Bush Surge Speech - Reaction Roundup » Outside The Beltway | OTB Live Blogs: * Ed Morrissey: “A nice finish to the speech, and a journeyman effort in delivering it tonight. Will it change minds? I don’t think it will have that much effect.” * Steven Taylor: “I must confess, the rhetoric is tired at this point, as it all very similar to things has been said for years, but yet we are not accomplishing our goals and it is highly unclear that we will be able to do so.” * Carolyn O’Hara: “America, you need more patience, more sacrifice, more resolve. “ [...]

By: legion

legion — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 17:19:21 +0000

LJD, according to the article, we raided a consulate, arrested staff members, and confiscated "office equipment". Unless those guys were actively shooting back (and I've seen no news claiming there was any gunfire involved), there's no way in hell these guys fall under the heading of "foreign combatants". I'm neither a lawyer nor a diplomat, but I'm pretty sure that unless there was active fire coming from the Iranian compound, there is no legal justification whatsoever for our troops setting foot there. That's not just some bleeding-heart criminal's rights liberal claptrap; it's both US and international law. And the smiley face was purely for sarcasm's sake; you know as well as anyone here we've kidnapped & detained foreign nationals outside the US before (sometimes with good reason, sometimes not).

By: LJD

LJD — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 17:02:13 +0000

Capturing foreign combatants in a bloody war zone, providing material and know-how to further the death and destruction, can hardly be referred to as kidnapping.

You perspective is deeply disturbing, smiley face not withstanding.

By: legion

legion — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 16:56:00 +0000

LJD,
Well, we never kidnapped any Iranians prior to last night (that the CIA has admitted to :-), but if you count our support of Iraq in the 80s (including providing them with WMDs...) we've been engaged in that since the Embassy incident.

I'm more concerned that we deliberately invaded sovereign Iranian territory (their consulate) with no input whatsoever from Congress. I'm extremely curious as to who ok'd that operation, and on what authority they did so...

By: LJD

LJD — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 16:40:19 +0000

Does 'basically declaring war' include things like calling for the destruction of another country, making outright threats, kidnapping citizens, and providing weapons, training and personnel to kill members of another country's military?

Well, in that case, Iran declared war a long, long time ago.

By: James Joyner

James Joyner — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 16:33:00 +0000

did anyone notice that we basically declared war on Iran last night?

It did seem that way. Yglesias and other noted that as well.

By: legion

legion — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 16:13:06 +0000

James, The tournament is great fun, but conference titles are nearly as big a hoot, even for big-name teams - that's one reason I watch college ball, but not the pros. On another topic, did anyone notice that we basically declared war on Iran last night?

By: Unpartisan.com Political News and Blog Aggregator

Unpartisan.com Political News and Blog Aggregator — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 15:20:02 +0000

Bush to Send 20,000 More Troops to Iraq...

President Bush will tell the nation Wednesday night he will send more than 20,000 additional America...

By: James Joyner

James Joyner — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 15:07:50 +0000

The UNC/Virginia college hoops game last night would have probably been a better use of your TV-watching time.

I tend not to watch regular season basketball, since there's a one-and-done tournament that decides everything.

By: Triumph

Triumph — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 15:06:04 +0000

I watched the speech last night and was unimpressed.

The UNC/Virginia college hoops game last night would have probably been a better use of your TV-watching time.

By: Jon Swift

Jon Swift — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 14:39:54 +0000

President Bush's Plan for Iraq: The Opposite...

In soliciting the advice of others and doing the opposite that Bush showed himself to be a true leader....

By: Stormy70

Stormy70 — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 14:37:15 +0000

Powerline and The Corner never like Bush's speeches. Powerline also predicted Bush and the Republicans would lose everything in 2004. They are never happy.

By: PoliBlog ™: A Rough Draft of my Thoughts » More on the New, Improved Iraq Policy

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 14:10:28 +0000

[...] James Joyner has a round-up of reactions, many from the Right-ish side of things, and they aren’t exactly glowing reviews. He also has a round-up of MSM responses in the same post. Filed under: Iraq, US Politics | |Send TrackBack [...]