Wednesday, June 29, 2005

If it doesn't feel good, don't do it

If Dubya's speech last night was supposed to offer greater candour, there is much analysis here of why it didn't. Here's another example. Having hitched his wagon to the flypaper strategy, you'd think he'd be eager to list the nationalities of foreign fighters in Iraq. He was, up to a point:

Our military reports that we have killed or captured hundreds of foreign fighters in Iraq who have come from Saudi Arabia and Syria, Iran, Egypt, Sudan, Yemen, Libya and others.

"and others." Like some European countries that, for whatever reason, Dubya doesn't want to annoy right now, via the Sunday Times:

ABOUT 70 young Muslim men have left Britain to join the insurgents who are fighting coalition troops in Iraq, senior security sources have revealed.
At least three have been killed in combat, including one whose role in an Iraq suicide bombing in February was disclosed by police only last week.

The growing problem of militants from Britain travelling to Iraq has been highlighted by Eliza Manningham-Buller, director-general of MI5, in recent briefings to Tony Blair.


Looks like the straight-talkin' Dubya is letting diplomatic niceties interfere with speaking the truth to the Merkin people.

UPDATE 29 JUNE: God forbid we have anything semi-complimentary to say about James Taranto's OpinionJournal.com, but they also make note of Bush's unusual country list above and pursue the logic of one of his famous promises, that countries harboring and supporting terrorism will also feel the wrath of the US -- yet these countries have not. Broadening the list to western countries would of course have complicated that issue even more.

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