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Communicator-in-Chief
President Bush did something yesterday that he should be doing everyday: speaking up on Iraq and speaking out on The Surge.
In a speech to the Naval War College, (full text here) President Bush made the case for our continuing engagement of the jihadists in Iraq:
“The stakes are high in the beginning stages of this global war against ideologues that stand for the exact opposite of what America stands for, the president said. What makes the war even more significant is that what happens overseas matters to the security in the United States of America, as we learned on September the 11th, when killers were able to use a failed state to plot the deadly attack.
If we withdraw before the Iraqi government can defend itself, he continued, we would yield the future of Iraq to terrorists like al Qaeda, and we would give a green light to extremists all throughout a troubled region.
The president said the consequences of such a withdrawal would be disastrous, as sectarian violence would overwhelm Iraq and fighting could spread well beyond Iraq and engulf the entire Persian Gulf region.
We would soon face a Middle East dominated by Islamic extremists who would pursue nuclear weapons, who would use their control of oil for economic blackmail and who would be in a position to launch new attacks on the United States of America, Bush said.”
The President is doing a great job as commander-in-chief, he needs to remember that he is also the communicator-in-chief.
No one else can make the case for Iraq. No one else can rally support for The Surge. No matter how much he dislikes this part of the job, it is at this time the most important part of his job.
The President knows his limitations. In paying tribute to Tony Blair this week, the President said, “I wish I was a better speaker.”
But the American people know his limitations. They are not looking for Churchill, but they are listening for the same type of hope and leadership that they heard from the rubble in New York: “I can hear you! The rest of the world hears you! And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!”
That was not eloquent. But it was electric.
As we have said before, “Speak up, Mr. President.” Lead, Mr. President. Make the case, Mr. President.
 The truth is on your side.  The truth is we are winning. The Truth shall set us free.