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More quotes, bold emphasis added.
After all that has just passed -- all the lives taken, and all the possibilities and hopes that died with them -- it is natural to wonder if America's future is one of fear. Some speak of an age of terror. I know there are struggles ahead, and dangers to face. But this country will define our times, not be defined by them. As long as the United States of America is determined and strong, this will not be an age of terror; this will be an age of liberty, here and across the world. (Applause.)Great harm has been done to us. We have suffered great loss. And in our grief and anger we have found our mission and our moment. Freedom and fear are at war. The advance of human freedom -- the great achievement of our time, and the great hope of every time -- now depends on us. Our nation -- this generation -- will lift a dark threat of violence from our people and our future. We will rally the world to this cause by our efforts, by our courage. We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail. (Applause.)
President Bush again, from the Address to a Joint Session of Congress and the American People, September 2001.
I'm not tired. Are you?
John Kerry might have been a bit sleepy when he repeatedly used the term "unilateral" in describing our actions in Iraq. He's spoken at length about "squandering good will" and damaging our standing with our allies, but what exactly does he mean? Really, if it's France and Germany, why not name them? Is he embarrassed by them?
Is it Russia?
In fact, Kerry has further defined his opinion, but not for American ears or eyes. Here's a quote from Agence France-Presse, just prior to "Super Tuesday":
Asked about nations who have deployed occupation forces in the war-torn country, Kerry said, “The fact is that those countries are really window dressing to the greatest degree."
I guess that eliminates some of the possibles from the list of unnamed "foreign leader" voices that Kerry's been hearing.
"They weren’t there in the beginning when we went in and are not carrying the cost of this war,” added Kerry, who hopes to seal his party’s presidential nomination in a 10-state schedule of contests on Tuesday.
CNN? Fox? No, that quote appears in Al Jazeera, Arab Times Online, Times of Oman, Malaysia Online, and Australia's news.com but for some strange reason was AWOL from the American news sources.
Though there is this earlier quote from John Edwards, from Fox on Thursday, January 22, 2004:
"As our military leaders say, you have in Iraq swimmers and non-swimmers, that's the term they like to use," Edwards said on New Hampshire Public Radio. "The swimmers are us and to a much smaller extent the British and nobody else. ... Most of these countries are window-dressing. This is not serious."
Maybe our military leaders use that swimmers/non swimmers line, but I haven't heard it. Might be a Navy tag - I can see where it would apply to SEALS. "Operators" or "shooters" would sound more military to me though, John. Keep trying.
I mean, if you and Kerry are going to be picking out new window dressings for the White House and all...
