Some time ago he said that it was a good thing that terrorists were coming to Iraq to attack Americans. “Get them all in one place” seemed to be the gist of his plan.

And a great way to get rid of flies is to put a piece of rotten meat out in the sun.

Last night he said:

“The surest way to avoid attacks on our own people is to engage the enemy where he lives and plans,” he declared, putting the enemy who struck America on Sept. 11, 2001, in the same category as those who are attacking U.S. soldiers in Iraq. “We are fighting that enemy in Iraq and Afghanistan today, so that we do not meet him again on our own streets, in our own cities.”

Reverse “Iraq and Afghanistan” and “America” and change the date to March, 2003. How does that read? International terrorists aren’t a bunch of guys who sat around drinking Coors and figured it would be cool to fly planes into the World Trade Center towers. They aren’t motivated by the fact that Americans have 600 cable TV channels and they just have Al Jazeera. There is a genuine belief that they are doing the right thing, the noble thing, the necessary thing. In my opinion and that of most westerners that belief is wrong, but bombing their homes isn’t going to make them change their minds.

Ever see the movie “Red Dawn”? What lengths would YOU go to if your homeland, your way of life, was attacked?

Please be assured that I’m not condoning terrorism in any way. My point is that violence begets violence. Sometimes a violent response is called for, but not as a means of solving long term problems.

When will the occupation of Iraq end?
The president offered no talk of “a light at the end of the tunnel,” only a pledge that “for America, there will be no going back to the era before September the 11th, 2001 — to false comfort in a dangerous world. We have learned that terrorist attacks are not caused by the use of strength — they are invited by the perception of weakness.”

Which is why terrorists attack Lichtenstein and Iceland all the time.

Bush is right on one point – there will be no going back.

Truer words were never spoken that when Yoda said “Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate… and hate leads to the dark side.”