Everyone has said that if we pull out of Iraq it will be disastrous for the United States with respect to our security and our reputation. Although this may be true, we must consider the ultimate financial implications. If we decide to, as George W. Bush states, “Stay the course”, where will the total expense of this war eventually wind up? The executive office has requested over $400 billion thus far since the war’s inception in the spring of 2003. Will this number reach $600 billion or perhaps $800 billion? If 71% of the American people believe that Iraq is in a civil war, or at least the inevitability of one and it becomes a mainstay, then the figure could reach in excess of $1 trillion dollars or more. What impact would these figures have on our economy as a whole? Theoretically, we are currently financing the war with money from Japan, China, Russia and South Korea, just to name a few. At what point will our economy begin to show a financial strain that would be irreversible. With over 2,300 solders killed in action and another 18,000 solders wounded, how much can we afford to continue paying in money and blood. In the meantime, several U.S. companies are reaping huge profits from this war while we, the American people, foot the bill. Why does the administration have such a sanguine attitude towards this atrocity as opposed to giving us the cold hard truth? Furthermore, where is the public protest?

After reading all of these comments it is like hearing one hand clapping ... everyone has something to say but no one is listening (or reading!) other's thoughts and comments. PS I really like David Gregory .. he is something rarely seen any more, a journalist who listens, thinks and comments based on the facts!

Why do we, the citizens of the greatest country on earth, blame the politicians when we elected them. We choose NOT to vote, and we choose for whom to vote. We choose to allow our system to be run by people who are overly influenced by money and special interests.

We choose to allow our system to be driven by television soundbites, and the looks of politicians, and the sound chambers of talk radio and cable tv.

The threatened Congressional vote against the Dubai Ports deal was the sign of terrified politicians responding to US in an election year.

Get involved by listening to politicians and candidates. Challenge them to be visionary and then to act on the vision by building coalitions. Broaden yuorself to care about more than one issue. Its important to have a job, in an environment thats clean, in a sociery that cares for its weakest, yet allows the stongest to succeed.

So we have a system and politicians that we have chosen. Lets not blame them for our failings.

We are America!

If we are safer now than before. Why can't our President go anywhere in the world without mass protests. We are seen as joke around the World !

I believe we have become the very thing that we despise - a government that fears its people.

The situation in Iraq is not getting better. The PR for this is like an old saying. They are trying to make a "Silk Purse" out of a "Sow's Ear". The American people are not stupid.

The investigative bodies in Iraq, including the 9/11 Commission and the Charles Duelfer report, found no pre-invasion link between Iraq and al-Qaeda just as no evidence was found of WMD. It took the Bush Administration instead to bring them there in a conflict that Bush keeps casting over and over and over again as a messianic struggle between good and evil (I'm sure it plays well to the base). Worse still, nobody in his administration understood the social dynamics there or how the invasion would affect geopolitical stability. With this last speech, how much more clearly do we have to see that our President still doesn't get it? In the meantime the national debt soars, war spending approaches a half a trillion dollars, anti-Americanism flares abroad, and our greatest resource of all -- our young citizens -- remain in harms way.

We did not have adequate planning before we went into that fiasco and we probably still do not have adequate planning. So we defeat the insurgents, so what? what comes after that and after that, etc. Bush Sr. had the right idea. Go in there, do what you have to do and get out before you get bogged down. We got Saddam. That was the (latest) reason we went there. So now, get out.

Is it any wonder that most of the world is of the opinion that 9/11 was an inside job perpetrated by Bush and the neoconservative Zionists in order to eradicate civil liberties and create perpetual warfare that benefits his oil & defense industry cronies?

The only thing that is meaningful is to vote. It is the only way to stop what is presently going on. People espousing Republican ideology voted in the last election and people espousing democratic ideology did not.
Vote Republican congessional representatives out in the upcoming elections and things will begin changing immediately.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion but voting makes your opinion count. Get involved in the elective process if you really want to change things.

David Gregory makes a really important point too. There is something that the President is overlooking. Take your pick, the list is endless!

I recall President Bush standing on the deck of an air craft carrier in 2003 and proudly stating that the war against Iraq is over and that the Mission was Accomplished. Now, three years have passed and President Bush is touring the country trying to drum up support for the ongoing war in Iraq, asking the American people to be patient and not get discouraged by the continuing violence in Iraq resulting in death and injury to thousands of our Finest Warriors and countless Iraqi citizens. The arrogance of President Bush and his administration is unbelievable, as is the patience of the American people who support him and his failed policies.

It's not an issue of blame, but rather an issue of responsibility. Bush is responsible for the war in Iraq because it had nothing to do with 9/11. The terrorists were Saudis, not Iraqis. Yet Bush was willing to hand over our ports to that same nation? This is irresponsible. Remember Osama Bin Laden? Where is he? Why haven't we killed him?

Bush didn't conjure up a Cat 5 hurricane (Katrina). He might think he can, but he didn't. But Bush is responsible for the lack of a coordinated effort and plan in the days after. Like it or not George W. is president and like it or not he will be held responsible for everything that goes wrong and even right.

I think that because we had success in Afghanistan, we could bring democracy to Iraq. We apparently overlooked the counter insurgency, Al Queda and divisive religious sects. WE should have known better, but have all President's been perfect in their projections of success? I dare say not.

I believe the best hope for settling this situation is the one Tom Friedman proposed today in the NY Times and he proffered maybe Dick Cheney being the toughest guy around should get these Iraqi officials in a room, knock their heads together and make them realize it's an "either/or" decision time. They solve their petty differences for the good of the whole or we are outta there!

Lastly, I believe the jury is still out on what the results of the Iraq intervention will be. This will take some time to analyze, but the problem with Americans is that they want these world events to be played out like a TV mini-series and concluded within two weeks. Life doesn't work that way...too many twists and turns!

9/11 is similar to the Red Scare of 1919 in that the civil liberties of U.S. citizens were eroded in the name of rooting out the evil within our society. The Bush administration knowingly lied about WMD in Iraq. Additionally, it's clear that the adminstration was arrogant enough to think that once Saddam was removed from power, Iraq would transform itself into a western style democracy. Problem is the administration forgot to take into account the Sunni/Shia split that has existed since Muhammed died. Why is war the answer? Why do we have to bomb and shoot "the enemy"? It's a 20th century mentality that unfortunately our administration embraces all too eagerly.

not quite clear on how you can actually listen to a speech AND write commentary. i'm guessing you have an advance copy?
as far as all the "comments", it's clear who has plenty of time on their hands...

Nobody blames Bush for Katrina. What we blame him for is cronyism in putting someone incompetent into the lead of FEMA. He undeniably did this. This is not the first time something like this has happened with FEMA; the organization was in similar disrepair early in the Clinton Administration. It got fixed back then, now the Bushies have re-broken it.

"Guts?" Well, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, et. al. are pretty free with other people's guts. The facts are that his Iraq adventure was and continues to be incompetent. Even amateurs like myself could and did predict what would happen, and it did. This administration is incompetent. And, they are arrogant. They have no understanding for any culture other than their own. They have no respect for any culture other than their own. And worse, they have no respect for any opinion other than their own.

There was no Al Qaeda in Irag before the Bushies started this adventure -- except for a small group (Ansar Al-Islam) in the North that were fighting *against* Saddam. In fact, Al Qaeda and Saddam hated each other -- read your history. There is Al Qaeda there now. Iraq was not a training ground for exported terrorists. It is now. Please do not compare Bush and friends to anybody involved in WWII.

More "Faith-Based" foreign policy from the "Faith-Bassed" so-called "President", Dubya. He is always saying stuff like "I don't believe there will be a civil war"

Dictionary definition of "Faith":

Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence

I read alot of the e-mailed comments and have to say how sad it makes me that the American people, have been sent to WAR by a group of neocrates that have nothing more noble in mind then securing the oil fields. I told my six kids and twelve grandkids when they were talking about going into IRAQ, big mistake, they had nothing to do with 9-11, this administration is interested in their own economic wealth and their parties reelection. For those of us that were around for a long time, we heard all this before, it was called Vietnam! could become My God it seems that most of the politicians in both parties either hide behind the constitution and freedom of speech or wave the bible and tell everyone how self rightous they are.When in fact most of them have been in congress the senate and this White house toooooooo long! We need to clean house, starting with the top! I come from a long line of military in my family, my Dad fought at the Battle of the Bulge, my husband served in the Navy, our son a Marine, who did two tours of the gulf. The politicians that send our young brave soilders into war don't give a crap about them or what happens when they return home with arms and legs blown off. It's sell the USA to the highest bidder! (See the ports deal). For anyone interested Bush's brother is very much involved with the Carlisle group, part of this ports deal, wait and see will go to them or halliburton, and they will laugh all the way to the bank. Bush can't walk and chew gum at the same time let alone run a country, unless it's by dictatorial adulation,and Cheney and Rove, to bad they all didn't go hunting with each other, because apparently this congress and house and the American people lack the fortitude to throw these bums out of office. I guess we could pretend he had an affair and then impeach him, that seems to be the criteria for the Republican party! You can invade another country, break every amendement in the Constitution, because according to the Cheney and Bush doctrine it's only a piece of papaer, let Americans drown, and wipe out entire cities, then let bumbling stooges that are friends run the departments in the government with such ineptness that any other person would have been standing in the unemployment line, oh I forgot if you make over $100,000. a year the economy is good! You can out a CIA agent, spend our kids and their kids into oblivion, tell everyone that we are invading another country because, well just fill in the blanks, let our borders go ungarded, our ports etc.,yet ask repeatedly for more millions. Give the insurance companies and pharmacutical companies a giveaway of millions of dollars and screw the seniors with this piece of crap drug program. Let Cheney and his buddies set the price for a barrell of oil and then tell the American public, well it's your fault, if you didn't use so much gas it would be lower. Give the corporations a free pass to polute, loosen the regulation on the mining industry, so what if some people die, profits are good! Sell off every job in america to the lowest bidder and go to India and tell those people making 10 cents an hour that the Americans are upset but need to understand that it's o.k. for business to take advantage of them. As long as you get your clearance from "God" directly it's o.k. don't worry be happy! The democrats may not have their crap together but I'll bet there are a hole lot of people wishing this economy was being overseen by Bill Clinton then by this bafoon! You see if you have never had to work for anything and if you screwed up every business your Daddy gave you without any conquence except for another one to take it's place, and you have a Mother who sees families crammed into a shelter without food and water that states,'this is a good place for them' then it's obvious your not going to give a rat's behind about anyone but yourself! Congrats to everyone who voted for Bush/Cheney, I hope your happy and satisfied with all his wonderful achievments! Thanks fed up in Idaho (which is almost totally a Red State)!

As long as there is a voice, there is a thought. As long as thought is taught, an open mind will question what's in front of it. What we built as a country was tolerance in an intolerant time, and now we no longer tolerate anything. We enter into a war under falsehoods, maybe, but then reprieve ourselves as if we're there to liberate these people, who day by day die at the hands of "soldiers" bent on the destruction of the ideals of the west. Ideals many do not cling too, sadly, but do we show tolerance or dominance, in the management of the situation? We ask for answers and we are given reasons. We ask for evidence and we are shown illusions. We want to help but we help ourselves. A small twinge of pity cringes inside us, but dissipates with the latest marvel. I am the same. I only wish for better.

After reading all terrible things blamed on the President, in fact everythings that has happened was because he caused it .The forgotten 9/11 was laid at he door, Katrina laid at his door, Irag laid at his door, and anything else you can think of. I thank God that this envoriment and chicken little mentality was not around during WWII or we would have hung our President and quit. What kind of nation has we become? Thank God we has a President with guts and not trying to do what popular at the time, because I promise if they had hit us again these same people would be yelling, why didnt take the fight to them.

I agree with the general thrust of the comments made above-- that the Bush administration has been arrogant and incompetent in its policies on Iraq since 9/11. But I would like to correct the idea that the conflict we now see between Iraqi Sunnis and Shias is 'hundreds of years old'. In fact, this conflict is about one hundred years old. It dates back to the 1880s when the European imperial nations targeted the only parts of the world not yet incorporated into their empires-Africa and the Middle East. By 1900 seven European nations had conquered Africa, and by 1918 Britain had taken almost the whole of the Middle East for itself, much of it seized from the collapsing Ottoman Empire. Britain's Arab ally in this imperial project was the Saud family of Arabia, which espoused an extremist version of Islam (Wahhabism) that rejected Shiism as well as many other mainstream Muslim practices. Britain carved up the former Ottoman territories into new states, and set about asserting colonial rule. By 1920 they had provoked a general rebellion in Iraq, which they brutally put down using poisoned gas. Britain then switched strategies and enthroned the Saudi prince Faysal in Iraq. Britain hoped to rule Iraq indirectly through Faysal, thereby minimizing resistance while maintaining control of Iraq's petroleum resources. One key aspect of this indirect British rule was the marginalization of the Shia population, which had been the main proponent of the rebellion of 1920. The anti-Shia nature of the Iraqi government grew even harsher after the abolition of the monarchy in 1958, especially under Saddam Hussayn, which the US supported until he invaded Kuwait in 1990.

We are less secure and hated more our instability going to war with no plan is now evident. This instability and lack of a set plan has rekindled ancient hates and feuds. Blair and Bush history will record as the true terrorists. The truth is we will leave when the Halliburton contracts expire. The blatant lies of this administration has damaged our security worse then prior to 9/11. Going to War, America realizes was a deception for profit of a few who could careless about the dead of war. Yes the war is illegal and yes Bush lied, his inablility to lead,plan, and manage his track record is now complete. We are less secure more hated and there is less peace in the middle east.
Bush and Blair need to be deactivated immediately of their power and offices. Sons and daughters have died in vain for what, thats whats hurts more then grief, and as a "God loving nation" we agreed to seek revenge on a non-related country. God Bless America.
Yes he has and when the hell are we going to realize this and be grateful for these blessings.

after reading all the comments before me none have offerd a answer to what they are complaining about and it cannot be somthing as simple as bush must golets hear and see some real answer from you all not just complaints do you have a real answer or are you just on the bash bush band wagon would like to see some real answers to what all these people would do about the iraq problem ok no more finger pointing do something constructive don,t be like bush

Next month marks the 31st Anniversary of the fall of South Vietnam. As a former United States Marine who served with the 1st Marine Brigade's Heavy Helicopter Squadron (HMH-463), aboard the U.S.S. Hancock (CVA-19), during Operations Eagle Pull, and Frequent Wind, the evacuations of Phomn Phen, Cambodia and Saigon, South Vietnam in April 1975, I witnessed first hand the tragic consequences of a President who lead the United States into a war based on faulty intelligence. The lie President Johnson echoed in August 1964 regarding the North Vietnamese patrol boat attack on the U.S.S. Maddox convinced Congress to pass the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution which permitted him to engage this nation in a war that resulted in the deaths of over 58,000 U.S. servicemen and women, an additional 300,000 WIA, and wasted over $116 billion in U.S. taxpayer dollars. That President Johnson knew that the attack against the U.S.S. Maddox never occurred has been verified as recently as December 2, 2005 in an analysis of the event published in the National Security Agency's classified, Cryptologic Quarterly by NSA historian Robert J. Hanyok.

In October 2002, based on intelligence President Bush convinced Congress to pass Public Law 107-243, authorizing him to use force against Iraq to make Saddam comply with U.N. Resolutions that he disarm his nation of Weapons of Mass Destruction. This in spite of former Secretary of State James Baker's declaration on January 9, 1996 during a PBS Frontline interview that "He (Saddam), no longer has the capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction, he no longer represents the threat to his neighbors that he did before." This assertion was essentially echoed by former U.S Marine and top U.N. Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter, who stated in a Time Magazine interview on September 14, 2002 that "I've said that no one has backed up any allegations that Iraq has reconstituted WMD capability with anything that remotely resembles substantive fact. To say that Saddam's doing it is in total disregard to the fact that if he gets caught he's a dead man and he knows it. We have tremendous capabilities to detect any effort by Iraq to obtain prohibited capability. The fact that no one has shown that he has acquired that capability doesn't necessarily translate into incompetence on the part of the intelligence community. It may mean that he hasn't done anything." These assertions were proven by the fact that no Weapons of Mass Destruction were found in Iraq, and by the conclusions of the CIA report released on October 7, 2004 that found Iraq's WMD program had been ended in 1991, and that it had ceased its nuclear program after the Gulf War, the same year. The United States weapons inspectors officially concluded their hunt for the Iraqi WMD on January 12, 2005.

That it stains the limits of credulity to believe that the President of the United States was not aware of these facts as declared in the aforementioned statements by both Baker and Ritter, is an understatement at best. For President Bush to believe that Iraq still had a Weapons of Mass Destruction and a Nuclear weapons program means that bankrupt, virtually nonfunctional society, Iraq a country that had lived under the harshest sanctions ever imposed on a nation in history for over a decade was able to deceive the whole of the U.S. intelligence network, including our national technical means which we have spent hundreds of billions of dollars engineering, building, and operating over the last four decades including the spy satellites of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), and the National Security Agencies (NSA), Project Echelon. To quote Jack Nicholson from the movie As good As It Gets, “Sell crazy somewhere else, we’re all full up here" .