George W. Bush spoke his mind at 'State of the Union' address

Mr. Bush's speech can be divided into three segments. He first started with the domestic agendum of 'Patriotic Act,' which was the direct result of 9/11. Then he switched gear to describe America's effort to combat global terrorism. In this segment, he covered US' involvement in Iraq and the arrest of Saddam Hussein, America's help to institute democracy in Afghanistan. Then, knowing election is not too far away, he spent considerable amount of time on domestic agenda that reflected his conservative policy. State of the economy, tax-cutting measures, healthcare reform, preserving the institution of marriage, war on illegal drug usage among high school students, and many more issues that are dear to conservative folks were mentioned. Finally, to satisfy his conservative constituency he brought faith (read religion) and Supreme Being in the concluding section of his speech. To that end, he concluded his speech with the phrase: "May God continue to bless America."

In the State of the Union speech, the US president addressed the nation at the US Congress where both members of the Senate and House of Representatives were present. For security reason two Congresspersons and two Senators were not allowed to attend the speech. When Mr. Bush was talking about his domestic agenda and how the war effort in Iraq was continuing the camera zoomed on Senator Edward Kennedy, the senior Senator from Massachusetts who is a quintessential liberal. While Mr. Bush's supporters in the Congress were clapping, a distraught Senator Kennedy was shaking his head in utter disbelief. Some of the things Mr. Bush asserted in his speech were polemical in nature.

Mr. Bush started his speech by saying that America will be secure because soldiers were mobilised in different parts of the world to fight terrorism. He was also quick to assert that the nation's economy is rebounding because of his tax cut. Many erudite economists in America may take issues on this contention of Mr. Bush. He then switched gear immediately to justify his action to mobilise army in Afghanistan and Iraq. He said he had to do this to defend America against global terrorists. He mentioned about Islamic terrorists' first attempt to demolish the Twin Towers in February 1993. In support of his 'get tough with the global terrorists' policy, he mentioned the name of half a dozen countries where the terrorists have struck after 9/11 incident. To continue his get-tough policy with terrorists and the nations that support global terrorism he asked Americans to re-enact the Patriot Act, which is supposed to expire in 2005. Many liberals and champions of bill of rights in America have criticised this act labeling it as an anathema to personal freedom. Nonetheless, Mr. Bush wants this controversial act to be renewed. This act gives enormous power to the president of America. In this connection he said, "We are tracking al-Qaeda terrorists all over the world ... and one-by-one we will bring these terrorists to justice."

Mr. Bush thinks that his get-tough with terrorists policy is working. He mentioned that soon Afghanistan's people would elect their representative democratically. He also mentioned that since he gave the last State of the Union speech, Iraqi people were freed from Saddam's rule and Baathist regime was abolished. America, Mr. Bush thinks, is making progress in Iraq. He mentioned how Saddam Hussein was captured in a hole. We learned from Mr. Bush that US soldiers so far had killed 45 Baathist leaders who were close associate of Saddam Hussein and many more were taken to custody. Rebuilding Iraq is now the top priority of his administration. He praised the work the Iraqi Governing Council -- a handpicked bunch of Iraqi citizens, who are working with the US-led coalition force to bring a semblance of law in that war-torn nation. To show his appreciation for Iraqi Governing Council the administration had flown Mr. Adnan Pachachi, a member and head of the council from Baghdad. During the speech, Mr. Pachachi rose from his seat amidst a thunderous applause when Mr. Bush mentioned Pachachi's name. It is a reminiscence of his last State of the Union address when a tupi-clad Hamid Karzai was flown in all the way from Kabul. This is Mr. Bush's style of recognising the future leader of a country where Americans have toppled an elected government through force.

Mr. Bush then mentioned Libya and North Korea by name when he said that his administration's get-tough policy is working globally. He is satisfied that Mr. Gaddafi is very accommodative about West's request to dismantle any WMD Libya may have. Mr. Bush thinks North Korea will also fall in line. He then threatened Iran telling them not to develop any menacing nuclear bombs. His ominous warning was: "No regime should be allowed to build nuclear arms." He also reiterated "America will win the war on terrorism." He thanked the men in uniform who are in Iraq fighting terrorism. He said, "Terrorists got a war on their hand because they decided to go into a war against America." To bring legitimacy to his war effort in Iraq Mr. Bush mentioned the names of 17 or so countries that decided to side with America and who sent troops to Iraq. To criticise those European nations that did not support America sending military to Iraq he said, "America will never ask a security slip to defend our nation." And Mr. Bush received a thunderous applause and standing ovation for his fiery remark.

To deliver his message keeping upcoming election in mind Mr. Bush said that he asked the Congress to approve more funding for "National Endowment for Democracy." Through this act America will help establish TV stations in Middle East to counter the propaganda some Middle Eastern news network is doing, which many in the West believe is helping to propagate hate against America. To calm the ME nation Mr. Bush said, "(we have) no desire to dominate. This republic will lead the cause of freedom."

Mr. Bush then focused on domestic agenda. He mentioned that America was plagued with recession, corporate scandal, terrorist attack, etc., all simultaneously in 2001. However, he is pleased to see the economy is rebounding nicely. He took the full credit for this resiliency while mentioning that his tax cutting measures had worked miracle. As usual, Republican lawmakers gave a standing ovation to Mr. Bush for his tax-cutting effort. Mr. Bush then moved onto education reform, healthcare reform, and immigration law reform to provide amnesty to millions of illegal aliens, and few other domestic agenda. Finally, to appease his supporters he invoked the Supreme Being. Many intellectuals and liberals in America hold the opinion that Mr. Bush is a born-again Christian. Thus, the "moral majority" (read the Christian Right) is his prime constituency. He thus concluded his near hour-long speech in a Christian fashion.

As I have alluded to earlier, this was a speech given by Mr. Bush in the garb of a politician who wanted to be re-elected. He does not want to do the same mistake as done by his father, President George H.W. Bush in 1992. I am sure the candidates from Democratic Party who are now running to seek the nomination of their party will scrutinise his speech. And so will many political pundits. Was it really a campaign speech in the garb of State of the Union address? It depends on one's viewpoint. The axiom "beauty is in the eyes of beholders" applies here too.

Dr. A H Jaffor Ullah, a researcher, stays in New Orleans, USA