I think President Bush’s press conference last night was well done and did the job. I was immensely grateful that the scripted question format omitted Helen Thomas, despite her hand being in the air the whole time. She may be the “doyen” of the the White House press corps, but she is so reflexively hard-left liberal and anti-Bush that anything she has to say grates on my nerves and is a waste of time.
As for the president’s remarks, I think he made it clear to Saddam that his days are numbered. Whatever happens in the Security Council we’re coming for him. I was taken aback by Bush’s casual reference to the fact that we know that even as Saddam destroys his al-Samoud missiles, he’s building more to replace them. He also revealed other information “we know.” I hope it convinces Saddam that the only way out for him is to capitulate and go into a nice cushy exile somewhere, with his big fat Swiss bank account stocked by the blood of the Iraqi people. That’s the best he can hope for.
The president doesn’t want to order men and women into battle, knowing that some will die, but as he said, the cost of not doing so will be even higher. The alternative to forcibly disarming Saddam is not peace, but more costly war later.
