George W. Bush’s 2nd State of the Union Address

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The 9/11 Commission report does its best to specify the threat, in this speech President Bush goes the complete opposite direction. The plan to stop terrorism starts off intuitive enough with solid steps: “We will shut down terrorist camps, disrupt terrorist plans and bring terrorists to justice.” Similarly to the Commission report, the strategy seems clear but the enemy is still undefined. President Bush specifically calls out North Korea, Iran, and Iraq. These three nations had almost nothing to do with one another. Bush seemingly wanted to end all terror in the world, a noble undertaking indeed, but not a practical one. The “enemy” in this speech is vague and unclear. This further illustrates the mistakes made in Iraq. Ignoring the country’s culture and history and fighting there for the wrong reasons. Bush says, “The price of indifference would be catastrophic.” The Iraq War in many ways was reminiscent of Vietnam in the ignorance of the country’s history and culture.