Al Qaeda is still active in Iraq. Its home base is Anbar Province. Al Qaeda has helped make Anbar the most violent area of Iraq outside the capital. A captured al Qaeda document describes the terrorists' plan to infiltrate and seize control of the province. This would bring al Qaeda closer to its goals of taking down Iraq's democracy, building a radical Islamic empire, and launching new attacks on the United States at home and abroad.
Our military forces in Anbar are killing and capturing al Qaeda leaders - and they are protecting the local population. Recently, local tribal leaders have begun to show their willingness to take on al Qaeda. And, as a result, our commanders believe we have an opportunity to deal a serious blow to the terrorists. So I have given orders to increase American forces in Anbar Province by 4,000 troops. These troops will work with Iraqi and tribal forces to keep up the pressure on the terrorists. America's men and women in uniform took away al Qaeda's safe haven in Afghanistan - and we will not allow them to re- establish it in Iraq.
Assuming al Qaeda is in Anbar, shouldn't Bush send more than 4000 additional troops there? If he was serious about winning the War on Terror, he would send enough troops to wipe out al Qaeda in Anbar.
And why is Bush trusting Iraqi and tribal forces to fight al Qaeda? He constantly tells us how important the War on Terror and the Iraq War are. He tells us that our civilization is in danger unless we defeat the terrorists. Why would Bush use Iraqi and tribal forces instead of relying strictly on American forces for something so important?
What is especially disturbing is that neither the media nor Democratic politicians question the way Bush fights the War on Terror. He showed in his speech last night that he is not serious about fighting terrorists, yet no one calls him out on it. People still view him favorably on national security and have no problem with him taking away our civil liberties. What is it going to take for these people to see how badly Bush is waging the War on Teror?
