bush accusing his critics

Today de facto president Bush slammed anybody who has ever expressed any doubts as being traitors. I exaggerate slightly, but look at a few quotes from his rant.

The stakes in the global war on terror are too high and the national interest is too important for politicians to throw out false charges.

I agree. Let's start with the false charges you throw out in this speech (below).

While it’s perfectly legitimate to criticize my decision or the conduct of the war, it is deeply irresponsible to rewrite the history of how that war began.

No, it isn't. This wasn't a war thrust upon us like World War II and (arguably) Afghanistan, by an enemy that attacked us. This was a war of choice. It was predicated on the idea repeatedly expressed by the Administration that if we didn't act against Saddam soon, there would have mushroom clouds over American cities. It is completely legitimate to assess how we got into the war in the first place.

As our troops fight a ruthless enemy determined to destroy our way of life, they deserve to know that their elected leaders who voted to send them to war continue to stand behind them.

This is a false charge -- I don't know of any members of Congress who do not "continue to stand by" our troops. If anything, the half-assed way we committed our soldiers to Iraq, with inadequate numbers to finish the job, and inadequate armor for them and their vehicles shows the failure of the regime and Rumsfeld's Pentagon to "stand by" the individual troops -- not to mention the "stop loss" measures being taken that make it very difficult for a regular or reservist to leave the military after meeting his or her commitment.

Also, a quibble -- the Baathist insurgents in Iraq are not determined to destroy our way of life, they're determined to throw us out of Iraq and resume their thuggish rule. Baathist (not equal) Al Qaida. In any case, it is also very easy to construct a strong argument that Al Qaida doesn't want to destroy our way of life so much as they want us out of Saudi Arabia, the home country of Islam's holiest city, Mecca...