Sorry... didn't watch the speech.  I read all the run up to it, and to be honest... I figured it wasn't going to be very substinative beyond what I read already.  Besides, I have a hard time listening to him speak.  I'll admit it.  He reads on paper much better than he sounds.  I read a lot of Bush speeches, and I listen to almost none.  For those of you who feel the same, here is the text of what he said.

But more importantly... I just don't know what to think about this whole Iraq thing any more.  More troops are already on their way, and the Democrats in Congress are making lots of noise... but so far that's all it is... noise.  They're complaining a lot, but not doing anything to stop it.  They could if they wanted to.  They could vote and direct that no funding be spent on more troops.  But will they?  I doubt it.  That would mean that they actually took real action on Iraq, and also did something to limit Presidential power leading up to a time when they hope a Democrat will be in office in 2 years.  I just don't see that happening.  That puts them on the hook for something.  It's a lot easier to bitch, moan and complain than to take real substantive action.

So will the surge work?  It's possible.  The majority of violence in Iraq is actually limited mostly to within a small area surrounding Baghdad.  So it's possible that a large increase in enforcement activities will help squelch the violence.  But the question is, for how long?  Bush has stated that this is not an open ended commitment.  So what will happen when the extra troops draw back down?  Will things return to their current state after they leave?  Are we just delaying the inevitable?  If we keep calming things down in Baghdad, will the problems just move to a different province instead?  There will be more troops, but will we let them actually do their job?  Will the current rules of engagement that severely limit their abilities be changed as well?

For as much as I want Iraq to succeed, I'm not sure how we accomplish that.  That's what makes me a bad political pundit.  I don't like expressing a definite opinion on something I don't know will work.  Of course, nobody knows what the correct action is to take in Iraq.  Anyone who thinks they do is fooling themselves.