Bush destroyed the leader of the free world.

[Selatius]

His speech pretty much means he will prolong a war that has killed thousands of Americans and many multiples more Iraqis before it is all set and done. The US is no longer seen as a leader of the free world. He has burned the old America and has tossed its ashes into the wind. We are left with pale, faded memories of a time when America was once loved in the world and tears for the dead in Bush's wake.

When the US pulls the last soldiers out of the US embassy in Baghdad some years from now--I don't know how far away that is--it will be after the US has been humiliated politically, its armies worn down to the bone by years of fighting against Iraqis who simply refused to accept the American presence.

The world is changing. The world is moving towards a multi-polar state once again. Gone are the days when the US could claim to be the only power in the world. In a way, Bush merely hastened the transition by rapidly depleting the power the Republic once held.

The next generation will inherit the legacy of today--a shattered world reputation, massive debt, hatred of America, and probably more terrorist attacks from abroad. They will inherit a world worse off than the one their parents inherited from their parents, and they will learn to accept that, after a time anyway.

[wake.up.america]

1. Bush certainly has done America no favors.

[The_Casual_Observer]

2. What happens when things begin to get worse in Iraq?

They seem to have adopted an optimistic "success" based plan. Nobody is talking about what they plan to do when things get worse.

[MadMaddie]

3. The only way the US can halt this slide is to

Pull the troops from Iraq.

Impeach * , Cheney and the whole Cabal...

If the Hague decides to prosecute them for genocide (Milosivich) comes to mind.....then the US should turn them over to show goodwill to the world....

The US must get the best statesmen and negotiaters to participate in World talks to help the Iraq region....

The US would have to take the lead in the following areas
-Healthcare for all Americans
-Bring jobs back home to the American Citizens
-Improve the Schools-Science and Mathmatics

I am sure there is more but it's a start...

As Democratic leaning folks I believe that it is our jobs to point out whats wrong...but we also need to provide solutions.

[Selatius]

4. Funny thing about the Hague...

The US never ratified the Rome Treaty that would recognize the Int'l Criminal Court. I believe Clinton signed the treaty, but Bush reversed that, and the Republican Senate at the time refused to ratify it. The Hague, consequently, holds no jurisdiction over American leaders both military and political. An ad hoc tribunal would have to be set up if one is serious about a trial, but the precedent is already there for ad hoc tribunals. I'm talking about the Nuremberg Trials, of course, convened at the end of the last world war.

[MadMaddie]

5. I agree with you the Nuremberg Trials are the precedent

History does repeat itself...I suspect it will happen in this case too when all of the truth is revealed.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

6. I thought you meant he had Gore killed.

Without him, we ARE screwn.