Well, it's what we've been waiting for (I guess). The President's big speech has finally come and gone, and now we can finally analyze what he actually said, instead of what analysts have been CLAIMING he'd be saying since the speech was announced shortly after the Democratic victories in the 2006 elections. I thought I'd share my analysis on the finer points of Bush's plan, as well as some of the weaker ones.

First, I like that the president was brutally honest on may occassions. Bush acknowledged that he made mistakes in 2006 by not ordering a troop buildup as violence was increasing. He also took the blame for the problems in Iraq, something this administration has had trouble doing recently. It is nice to see that the Administration is finally willing to win this war, instead of just stand around.

One part I particularly liked, was the point which Bush said it was a mistake to allow the Iraqis to restrict US forces. This is something I've been arguing about for a long time. It is absolutely senseless to let another country control our armed forces, and it is especially important in this war, since al-Maliki has virtually prevented us from attacking Moqtada al-Sadr and his band of goons. He says he has talked to Nouri al-Maliki, and the Prime Minister has assured him that "political or sectarian interference will not be tolerated." I hope he's right, for the sake of this war, and for the sake of this country.

Another good point for Bush, was when he outlined what will happen if we pull out of Iraq before we complete the mission - if we cut and run as the Democrats want us to do. Justification for the war has been severely lacking, as has discussions of the consequences of leaving the job unfinished. Says Bush, "Radical Islamic extremists would grow in strength and gain new recruits. They would be in a better position to topple moderate governments, create chaos in the region, and use oil revenues to fund their ambitions. Iran would be emboldened in its pursuit of nuclear weapons. Our enemies would have a safe haven from which to plan and launch attacks on the American People." This is golden, because Conservatives have been spreading this same message for a long time. It's a good message, but it needs to come from the President. These are the consequences should we fail, and we must not fail.

"The most urgent priority for success in Iraq is security, especially in Baghdad." Bush said. This is another good point, though I wish he'd realized it a bit sooner. He doesn't have a lot more time left before the patience of the American people runs out. Even conservatives are beginning to turn against the war, because they continue to see nothing being accomplished. Bush and al-Maliki better hurry.

Finally, we get to the meat of the speech, the proposals. It was good of Bush to identify the problems, something that has been missing at the top levels of government, and it was certainly good to outline the consequences of failure. He proposes adding 20,000 troops to Baghdad, to assist 18 Iraqi Army and National Police brigades in quelling the violence in Baghdad. This is the part of the proposal that has been discussed so much recently, and that is causing heated debate.

Democrats do not like the plan, because it calls for an escalation in the war, which they are "fundamentally" opposed to. Truthfully, I'm not a big fan of the proposal either, because I believe we should have won this war already. That said, we are in a mess now, and it must be changed. If 20,000 additional American soldiers are going to do the job, then we must utilize what we can in order to quell the violence and end this bloody war with an American victory.

In response to concerns this plan would not work, Bush addressed these concerns in his speech. "Here are the differences: In earlier operations, Iraqi and American forces cleared many neighborhoods of terrorists and insurgents - but when our forces moved on to other targets, the killers returned. This time, we will have the force levels we need to hold the areas that have been cleared."

This is important, because this IS why previous operations have failed. We move the terrorists out, and they just come back once we leave. If we can secure the entire city of Baghdad, violence will begin to decline almost immediately, until we can find and root out the few remaining terrorists.

"I have made it clear to the Prime Minister and Iraq's other leaders that America's commitment is not open-ended. If the Iraqi government does not follow through on its promises, it will lose the support of the American people - and it will lose the support of the Iraqi people. Now is the time to act."

Excellent. It is about time. We don't have to set a withdrawl date, because that would embolden and empower our enemies. But we must put constant pressure on the Iraqi government to get done what it must to end the violence, or the reality is that we must leave, tragic though it may be.

Bush goes on to speak of extra-military ways in which he is working to improve the Iraq situation. First, he says that the Iraqi government plans to take responsibility for security in all of Iraq's provinces by November. They will also pass laws giving all Iraqi's a share in the oil revenues. Bush says that the Iraqi government must begin to give a better life to its people, or they will lose their support for the government. This includes all people, Sunni, Shia, and Kurdish.

Troops in the Anbar province - headquarters for Al Qaeda's Iraq division - will increase by 4000 according to Bush's proposal, in an effort to permanently end the violence in the most violent area outside of the capital. This may work, and I hope it does because Al Qaeda simply must be crushed. There is no reason why we shouldn't destroy them - we even know where they are. The time has more than come. It is time we take out Al Qaeda in Iraq.

I have to quote a few longer passages of the speech verbatim, because they are so important to understanding the speech, and understanding the mission that we are (hopefully) going to complete with this proposal.

"Succeeding in Iraq also requires defending its territorial integrity - and stabilizing the region in the face of the extremist challenge. This begins with addressing Iran and Syria. These two regimes are allowing terrorists and insurgents to use their territory to move in and out of Iraq. Iran is providing material support for attacks on American troops. We will disrupt the attacks on our forces. We will interrupt the flow of support from Iran and Syria. And we will seek out and destroy the networks providing advanced weaponry and training to our enemies in Iraq."

Excellent. We must stop Iran and Syria from fomenting violence in Iraq. Most of the Shia militias get their marching orders from Iran or Syria, as well as weapons, arms, and information that traverse these countries. US and Iraqi forces have (for some reason) been unable to secure the border and prevent the terrorists from coming through. As a result, violence has increased. It is excellent that President Bush addressed this, and it is excellent that he has a plan to do something about it.

"We are also taking other steps to bolster the security of Iraq and protect American interests in the Middle East. I recently ordered the deployment of an additional carrier strike group to the region. We will expand intelligence sharing and deploy Patriot air defense systems to reassure our friends and allies. We will work with the governments of Turkey and Iraq to help them resolve problems along their border. And we will work with others to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons and dominating the region."

EXCELLENT. Finally, there is a threat from the United States to the government of Iran. I have (if you've read this blog, you'd know) advocated such a thing for quite some time. We cannot count on the United Nations to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons, and we cannot count on the UN to get Iran to stop fomenting violence in Iraq and around the Middle East. We must do it ourselves. On one end, we secure the Iraqi border, and prevent Iranians and Syrians from coming over and messing things up.

On the other, we deploy carrier strike groups armed and ready to attack Iran should they go too far (though I contend they have already, and have been continuously doing so since 1979 when they kidnapped our hostages). This may be the decisive action needed to prevent Iran from attaining technology that could cause an apocalypse. This may finally reign in the rogue nation, if we back up our threats with actions when they refuse to comply.

Though the parts about what is to be done in Iraq is important, this last section was to me the most important. Once Iraq is finished - for better or worse - there are other fish in the ocean of terrorism, most notably Iran. Iran will not go away, and cannot be ignored. It must be dealt with now, before it gets nuclear weapons, or they will use them to destroy the United States and Israel.

Iran must realize that the United States is not joking around. We mean what we say, and we say that Iran shall not have nuclear weapons. An additional strike group in the region will greatly increase our threatening power, which we must utilize to the utmost if we are to stop Iran from blowing up the entire region.

Iran must be reigned in and made to understand that they can no longer simply do as they wish. If they continue to do so, there will be consequences. While the rest of the speech is dedicated to solving the problems in Iraq, this portion of the speech is dedicated to the greater war we are fighting, a war I think people tend to forget sometimes.

We are not simply fighting in Iraq. We are fighting islamofascists around the globe, in almost every country on Earth including our own. These people and their hateful ideology want to kill every last one of us - men, women, and children - because we are "infidels" not worth living. These people are all over, not just in Iraq. Once we have finished the Iraq mission, these people will still exist, they will continue to be a threat, and they will not be destroyed unless we vigorously go after them.

This portion of the speech has the greatest, and longest lasting effects of all the portions of the speech, because it outlines future US strategy for combatting terror. Many have been claming that Iran was the key target all along, but that Iraq proved to be a bit more than the Bush Administration bargained for. I would agree, and say that the defeat of the Iranian government is the ultimate goal in this war. Iran spreads and controls much of the terrorism that is spread through this world, and by cutting off the head, the limbs are much more likely to fall. With Iran out of the way, going after individual sects of islamofascists will be much easier. Particularly since we will no longer have the threat of a rogue nation with an insane leader controlling the most destructive objects in human history - atom bombs.