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The Speech I'd Like To Hear From the US 44th President
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JoeUser Forums
The Speech I’d Like to Hear From the 44th President of the United States
My Fellow Americans, some, if not most of you may find the timing of my speech a bit discomforting coming on the following daybreak after the inaugural ceremonies yesterday inducting me as your 44th President. It’s true, it’s a bit chilly here at the footsteps of the newly reopened Ms. Liberty monument and I could’ve been better advised to schedule this time to address the American people
much later in the evening when most of you would be safe in your houses and I didn’t have to compete with the early morning rush hour traffic on the way to work, but we are facing the dawn of a brave new era and old rules can’t seem to catch up with the changing times. Neither can what I have to share with you afford any delays. So just sip your coffee or tea and bear with me for awhile.
In much the same way that the already familiar event of September 11 was an eye-opener, it was also a wake-up call for all of us. But aside from experiencing the Terror up close, did we really understand what this was all about? Instinctively, we muscled up our reflexes, and they were good reflexes, honed by generations of experience with several world and regional wars. Nature provided us with these instinctive reflexes for our survival, as we move to defend ourselves from injury. The good Lord, or (whomever you may choose to call a higher Being, if you were to invent Him), however gave us something more. He gave us our minds, or the brain, if you want to be anatomical about it. Did we really understand what was going on aside from we, the good guys, having to defeat them, the bad guys? How could a few men from a far-off land conspire to kill 3,000 innocent American lives and themselves in the process and believe they would go to Heaven? How could many in the Arab world perceive our role in the world as “Satanists” when we have toiled and bled as a people to model a path to Democracy? Questions did come about at that painful time and they were serious questions, but then during the immediate post-9/11 period , the pain and grief very much outweighed any luxury we may have had in allowing us enough time to develop a long-term strategy for our War on Terror. It was easier then to see our choices spelled out in black-and-white for us. You hit us, we hit you. But who exactly do we hit? Bin Laden was and still is our target. But many other options may have distracted our focus in the intervening period – Afghanistan? Iraq? Other Middle Eastern countries who share a different view of their development? The long-term strategy would, for us, evolve with the benefit of time, hindsight and more information as each generation of our leaders pass forward the torch. And it would neither come to us smoothly, but would come in fits and starts. Yes, through trial and error.
Let us not forget that our great nation was not only forged through trials, but as much as we Americans candidly remind everyone how human we are, this nation was forged through errors, as well. Having then the benefit of a little more time, we can now focus on understanding the Enemy we face, before we dismiss them as unresponsive to any other option except annihilation. Let us remember that the enemy did not make use of any sophisticated multi-million stealth bomber in bringing us the destruction we experienced. The main weapon the enemy used was the minds of these men who were dead-set in their beliefs that bringing death and destruction to America would lead them to Heaven. It was an ideological weapon. It is this same ideological weapon the enemy has used in its military adventures against our armed forces overseas long before Sept. 11. The military component was merely supportive. How do you deal with an ideological weapon? Do you parry the thrust of an ideological weapon with a purely conventional military option as we have readily done in our Afghanistan and Iraq wars? Have we not seen the new generations of jihadists that spawn out of our every military operation against them? It seems obvious by now that the enemy wants us to wildly spend our military resources in the Arab world, so that the collateral damage that would ensue would gain them more adherents who would later, in our unguarded vulnerable moments, bring us another loss in life or limb. Do we play his game? What do we know of the enemy’s ideology to combat it? What is Islamic Fundamentalism or Wahabism ? What about past and current American foreign policies in the Middle East – isn’t it high time to review any miscalculations that may have fueled this ideology and brought us further from the goal of lasting peace in the region? What about funding? How much funding is being given government agencies and institutions towards pursuing an effective response against an ideological weapon ? How does this compare with funding for the current military operations in Iraq ? Shouldn’t the option of addressing an ideology be the appropriate main answer to this War which started with an ideological weapon? Shouldn’t combat be supportive instead of being our main response ?
Before giving you an indigestion with my barrage of questions, let me announce something as your President and Commander-in-Chief. .Starting tomorrow, funding would be made available for the appropriate federal institutions involved with refining our ideological response so that it could be effectively felt in our enemy’s backyard. As already agreed in an earlier meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, half the funding would be sourced from the budget given for the current combat operations in Iraq. There will be no need to escalate further our military presence in that country. The boys will be coming home to get their well-deserved rest. As peace and order
improves in post-war Iraq as we hope it should with decreasing US military presence, we may have the option of ceasing military operations in Iraq altogether. Funding should be diverted to our internal needs as well, where we may be vulnerable to outside exploitation. Weak areas are the poorer areas of our society where urban renewal initiatives would have the most benefit. Bipartisan initiatives should hold sway in formulating a health care delivery system befitting our economy. Research has historically brought our economy forward so we should strengthen rather than weaken it. In the same way we have to strike a fair balance between our economic growth and the way we manage or mismanage our environment , lest we pay a heavy price for it in our future.
Our history again has shown that it is by concentrating on our inner strength as a nation rather than willfully spending our resources on a conventional war - which the world cannot doubt we are capable of doing - that we are able to persevere and prevail over an ideological enemy. The withering away of the old U.S.S.R. which for a generation terrorized our nation with the prospect of a nuclear holocaust did not come about because we sent our forces to actually do battle with them. It came about because we painstakingly provided their people with an alternative model for governance and development - a democratic model – which they voted for with their feet as they came in droves to open their borders. We have to learn from this history.
I have two more points to take up with you and this won’t take long. But this has to do with this long-term strategy in our War against Terror which we’re embarking on. It is difficult for one who has only known war from the movies to really know war, much less to understand it. This is the very reason those who have really known war find the decision to go to war a most agonizing process not because they are incompetent to carry it out if need be, but because they truly understand what war is. It takes those who have been in war to really understand the horrors of war. By this, I not only refer to the veterans of the wars our country fought who may be the granddads, fathers, aunts and uncles by your side with their tales of courage but also our young soldiers whose daily toll of gallantry never fail to touch our hearts. It also refers to the victims of war, which means not only the grieving families of our soldiers killed in action, not only the soldier themselves who by way of physical disabilities or trauma suffered from the war, but to the innocent women and children who by way of “collateral damage” paid a high price for this war. To them, and to the innocent people of Iraq who suffered from this War, I, as your President, extend our most sincere apology. As much as it is difficult to understand given the horrors of this war, the American people wish the people of Iraq no harm.
Lastly, to you, the American people, in your workplaces, in your homes; in your persevering adherence to our democratic history and ideals which you would consistently show in how you live and respect your neighbor; may you as Ms .Liberty here above me, continue to shine your light to the world as an alternative to the needy, the hungry and the oppressed. We fight Ignorance with Truth. We combat this darkness of Terror with Light. May you continue your vigilance and guard against our leaders who may with the temptations of Power, stray from our Ideals. I ask your support and prayers, for mine is not an easy task. The morning sun’s getting stronger and we have work to do in keeping this country great. God Bless America.
My Fellow Americans, some, if not most of you may find the timing of my speech a bit discomforting coming on the following daybreak after the inaugural ceremonies yesterday inducting me as your 44th President. It’s true, it’s a bit chilly here at the footsteps of the newly reopened Ms. Liberty monument and I could’ve been better advised to schedule this time to address the American people
much later in the evening when most of you would be safe in your houses and I didn’t have to compete with the early morning rush hour traffic on the way to work, but we are facing the dawn of a brave new era and old rules can’t seem to catch up with the changing times. Neither can what I have to share with you afford any delays. So just sip your coffee or tea and bear with me for awhile.
In much the same way that the already familiar event of September 11 was an eye-opener, it was also a wake-up call for all of us. But aside from experiencing the Terror up close, did we really understand what this was all about? Instinctively, we muscled up our reflexes, and they were good reflexes, honed by generations of experience with several world and regional wars. Nature provided us with these instinctive reflexes for our survival, as we move to defend ourselves from injury. The good Lord, or (whomever you may choose to call a higher Being, if you were to invent Him), however gave us something more. He gave us our minds, or the brain, if you want to be anatomical about it. Did we really understand what was going on aside from we, the good guys, having to defeat them, the bad guys? How could a few men from a far-off land conspire to kill 3,000 innocent American lives and themselves in the process and believe they would go to Heaven? How could many in the Arab world perceive our role in the world as “Satanists” when we have toiled and bled as a people to model a path to Democracy? Questions did come about at that painful time and they were serious questions, but then during the immediate post-9/11 period , the pain and grief very much outweighed any luxury we may have had in allowing us enough time to develop a long-term strategy for our War on Terror. It was easier then to see our choices spelled out in black-and-white for us. You hit us, we hit you. But who exactly do we hit? Bin Laden was and still is our target. But many other options may have distracted our focus in the intervening period – Afghanistan? Iraq? Other Middle Eastern countries who share a different view of their development? The long-term strategy would, for us, evolve with the benefit of time, hindsight and more information as each generation of our leaders pass forward the torch. And it would neither come to us smoothly, but would come in fits and starts. Yes, through trial and error.
Let us not forget that our great nation was not only forged through trials, but as much as we Americans candidly remind everyone how human we are, this nation was forged through errors, as well. Having then the benefit of a little more time, we can now focus on understanding the Enemy we face, before we dismiss them as unresponsive to any other option except annihilation. Let us remember that the enemy did not make use of any sophisticated multi-million stealth bomber in bringing us the destruction we experienced. The main weapon the enemy used was the minds of these men who were dead-set in their beliefs that bringing death and destruction to America would lead them to Heaven. It was an ideological weapon. It is this same ideological weapon the enemy has used in its military adventures against our armed forces overseas long before Sept. 11. The military component was merely supportive. How do you deal with an ideological weapon? Do you parry the thrust of an ideological weapon with a purely conventional military option as we have readily done in our Afghanistan and Iraq wars? Have we not seen the new generations of jihadists that spawn out of our every military operation against them? It seems obvious by now that the enemy wants us to wildly spend our military resources in the Arab world, so that the collateral damage that would ensue would gain them more adherents who would later, in our unguarded vulnerable moments, bring us another loss in life or limb. Do we play his game? What do we know of the enemy’s ideology to combat it? What is Islamic Fundamentalism or Wahabism ? What about past and current American foreign policies in the Middle East – isn’t it high time to review any miscalculations that may have fueled this ideology and brought us further from the goal of lasting peace in the region? What about funding? How much funding is being given government agencies and institutions towards pursuing an effective response against an ideological weapon ? How does this compare with funding for the current military operations in Iraq ? Shouldn’t the option of addressing an ideology be the appropriate main answer to this War which started with an ideological weapon? Shouldn’t combat be supportive instead of being our main response ?
Before giving you an indigestion with my barrage of questions, let me announce something as your President and Commander-in-Chief. .Starting tomorrow, funding would be made available for the appropriate federal institutions involved with refining our ideological response so that it could be effectively felt in our enemy’s backyard. As already agreed in an earlier meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, half the funding would be sourced from the budget given for the current combat operations in Iraq. There will be no need to escalate further our military presence in that country. The boys will be coming home to get their well-deserved rest. As peace and order
improves in post-war Iraq as we hope it should with decreasing US military presence, we may have the option of ceasing military operations in Iraq altogether. Funding should be diverted to our internal needs as well, where we may be vulnerable to outside exploitation. Weak areas are the poorer areas of our society where urban renewal initiatives would have the most benefit. Bipartisan initiatives should hold sway in formulating a health care delivery system befitting our economy. Research has historically brought our economy forward so we should strengthen rather than weaken it. In the same way we have to strike a fair balance between our economic growth and the way we manage or mismanage our environment , lest we pay a heavy price for it in our future.
Our history again has shown that it is by concentrating on our inner strength as a nation rather than willfully spending our resources on a conventional war - which the world cannot doubt we are capable of doing - that we are able to persevere and prevail over an ideological enemy. The withering away of the old U.S.S.R. which for a generation terrorized our nation with the prospect of a nuclear holocaust did not come about because we sent our forces to actually do battle with them. It came about because we painstakingly provided their people with an alternative model for governance and development - a democratic model – which they voted for with their feet as they came in droves to open their borders. We have to learn from this history.
I have two more points to take up with you and this won’t take long. But this has to do with this long-term strategy in our War against Terror which we’re embarking on. It is difficult for one who has only known war from the movies to really know war, much less to understand it. This is the very reason those who have really known war find the decision to go to war a most agonizing process not because they are incompetent to carry it out if need be, but because they truly understand what war is. It takes those who have been in war to really understand the horrors of war. By this, I not only refer to the veterans of the wars our country fought who may be the granddads, fathers, aunts and uncles by your side with their tales of courage but also our young soldiers whose daily toll of gallantry never fail to touch our hearts. It also refers to the victims of war, which means not only the grieving families of our soldiers killed in action, not only the soldier themselves who by way of physical disabilities or trauma suffered from the war, but to the innocent women and children who by way of “collateral damage” paid a high price for this war. To them, and to the innocent people of Iraq who suffered from this War, I, as your President, extend our most sincere apology. As much as it is difficult to understand given the horrors of this war, the American people wish the people of Iraq no harm.
Lastly, to you, the American people, in your workplaces, in your homes; in your persevering adherence to our democratic history and ideals which you would consistently show in how you live and respect your neighbor; may you as Ms .Liberty here above me, continue to shine your light to the world as an alternative to the needy, the hungry and the oppressed. We fight Ignorance with Truth. We combat this darkness of Terror with Light. May you continue your vigilance and guard against our leaders who may with the temptations of Power, stray from our Ideals. I ask your support and prayers, for mine is not an easy task. The morning sun’s getting stronger and we have work to do in keeping this country great. God Bless America.