Obama gave the following response to Rudy G. concerning whether we should be on the offensive or the defensive in our war against terrorists. The text of Obama's speech follows with some commentary:
>>Rudy Giuliani today has taken the politics of fear to a new low and I believe Americans are ready to reject those kind of politics. We all saw what 19 men filled with hatred for America could do. There are been innumerable attacks by Islamic terrorists in this land as well as against our embassies. So, the "politics of fear" is really more like the "politics of reality" or the "poliitics of historical events." >>America's mayor should know that when it comes to 9/11 and fighting terrorists, America is united. No we're not; half of us want to remove the troops from Iraq and the other half want to remain there until the job is done. That does not sound like we are united. Furthermore, there are even fanatics who think that the US blew up the twin towers. This hardly seems united to me. >>We know we can win this war based on shared purpose, not the same divisive politics that question your patriotism if you dare to question failed policies that have made us less secure. We are going to win this war by retreating? We are going to be made more secure by leaving Iraq where our enemies recognize that is a theater of war? Failed policies? Sadam was deposed; elections have been held; so we are not dealing with failure; but it will take a lot of work to keep this country on track.
Have there been mistakes? Have there been miscalculations? Of course there has been. That happens in war under every president, Democrat and Republican.
Rudy did not question Obama's patriotism and he never has. >>I think we should focus on strengthening our intelligence,... Absolutely--this is a good point; we should strengthen our intelligence HERE and overseas both. Bush has begun that with the Patriot Act and with reorganzing our various agencies under Homeland Security. >>...working with local authorities and doing all the things we haven't yet done to keep Americans safe. Again, it is called the Patriot Act. If Obama has more ideas, this would have been a good place to insert them. >>The threat we face is real, and deserves better than to be the punchline of another political attack. Rudy was differentiating between his position and the Democratic position; that is not a political attack. However, rather than actually deal with the issues that Rudy raised, Obama finds that it is much easier to call it a "political attack."
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