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 ush’s
speech had passion, logic, and poetry. The only thing that was missing
was “the coalition.” This was not a Foggy Bottom speech. Where were
the French? Where was the U.N.? The casual listener could be forgiven
for concluding that the coalition in this war consists entirely
of the U.S. and Britain — as, indeed, it probably will when
it really matters.
And that was just one
of the magnificent things about Bush’s truly brave performance last
night. His address reached an emotional crescendo when he displayed
a lost police officer’s badge, his eyes reddening and filling with
tears. Bush pledged: “I will not yield, I will not rest, I will
not relent.” He then portrayed the war as a fight between freedom
and fear, justice and cruelty, and observed: “God is not neutral
between them.” It was a gut-punch of an ending. Bush’s emotion was
perfectly pitched to the mood of America, which over the last week
has been tearful but resolute, angry but prayerful.
The most important
substantive point was that Bush was absolutely clear that he won’t
stop at Osama bin Laden and the Taliban. Although they will provide
a nice start. Bush warned that the Afghan regime can “hand over
the terrorists or share their fate” — a not-so-subtle threat
of assassination. But that’s not enough. Nations that support terrorism,
Bush explained, will henceforth be “regarded as hostile regimes.”
That should have gotten their ears burning in Baghdad, Damascus,
and Tehran. Bush, in the internal debate in his own administration,
appears to be a hardliner, understanding that if he limits his attention
to Kabul, his war against terrorism will be unworthy of the name.
I thought that last
Friday, as Bush stood atop part of the rubble of the World Trade
Center, he came as close as he ever will to delivering a St. Crispin’s
Day speech. That spirit and resolve carried over into the House
chamber last night, and it was something to behold.
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