June 03, 2004

The D-Day Speech I Wish Bush Would Give

(acknowledgment of other leaders and dignitaries, with special attention paid to Blair and other members of the Coalition)

My fellow Citizens,

We gather here today to remember a date that lives not in infamy, but in honor. A date in which great leaders took a great gamble, and thousands of “ordinary” soldiers undertook to make that gamble pay off. The eyes of the world were indeed upon them, and they stood that day as giants and showed what true greatness was. To borrow from the poet A.E. Houseman, their shoulders held the sky suspended, and because of their actions, and individual bravery and heroics, the Earth’s foundation did stay.

This date marks the beginning of the end for one of the worst tyrannies the world has ever seen. The men who fought here, and those that died here, did not do so for pay. They did not do so for glory, though their actions have covered them in it. They did so in defense of individual freedom and liberty. These men fought for their countries, to protect home and hearth, but they also fought for the greater good of all mankind.

They did this because the leaders of the day had failed to do so. There were many opportunities to deal with the terror that was Nazism, and those chances were squandered. The leaders of the day placed politics and self-interest ahead of their duty to their countries and to the world. As a result of their short-sightedness, millions died and millions more paid the price. These men we honor here today fought and died to correct these failures of leadership. They fought and died to give everyone a second chance.

Today, sadly, we face a similar situation. Politics and self-interest once again rule the day, and the threat is now to billions. A new terror has emerged, the terror if Islamofacism, and it is even more virulent than that of Nazism. Yet, there are those who would put efforts to seize power, secure lucrative contracts for themselves and national companies, and otherwise follow the discredited practices of leadership that created the need for the action we honor here today. They seek to appease for little more than personal gain, and in so doing have chosen to stand with the enemies of civilization instead of against them.

I have stated many times that in this new war, you are either for us, or with them. The actions and comments of some leaders has made it clear that they stand with them. This date marks a dark chapter where for the second time in less than 50 years it was necessary to save those who would not save themselves. There will be no third time.

Accordingly, I have issued executive orders to collect all previous war debts going back to the First World War, the Second World War, and for defense debts related to the Cold War. Ambassadors are hereby submitting those bills to the governments of France, Germany, Belgium, and Russia, among others, and those payments will be regarded as due in full immediately. I have further issued an order to extend the concept of extraterritoriality to all cemeteries such as this one. They may be here, but the land has been bought with our dearest blood, and we will honor and treat these areas as our own soil.

Realizing that this is indeed an enormous debt, and that the world economy is a fragile thing, I am also presenting an option by which all such debts will be forgiven with no money or consideration to be delivered to the United States of America. I will forgive those debts if the countries in question forgive all debts incurred by or under the previous government in Iraq in full, declare all sweetheart deals and contracts public and private made with the previous regime to be null and void, and that all sales of high technology, weapons, nuclear power or other related technology to Iran, Syria, and North Korea be stopped immediately.

Just as the League of Nations failed in its duties to the world, and to the men and women we honor here today, so to has the United Nations. This is another mistake that we cannot afford to repeat. Accordingly, I have issued an executive order freezing all payments to the United Nations, and a bipartisan bill is being introduced today to Congress for the United States to formally withdraw from that corrupt and ineffective institution. Know that we are evaluating all our alliances and partnerships, and that we will honor those who are true allies, and repudiate those who fail to keep their commitments.

Those we honor here today did not fight and die in vain. The tyranny of that time was defeated, and the lessons of history laid bare to all. We have learned that lesson and will not yet again the mistakes of the last century. The precious blood of our young men and women will not be shed in the same places and for the same tired reasons yet again. We will not rescue those who fail to save themselves. Our efforts, and our blood, will be expended on those who want change and growth, who fight tyranny, and who desire a better world of peace and individual freedom and liberty. We will fight against the new darkness so that millions of lives need not be lost, and millions more pay the price.

Choose now and choose wisely where you stand, for we will not repeat the mistakes of history yet again. To those with us today who were here that fateful day, I give you my sincere, full, and humble thanks. It is a pleasure to be here with those who still stand so tall. To those that died here, we remember you and treasure your sacrifice. Know all of you that what you did stands as a beacon to the world.

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Posted by wolf1 at June 3, 2004 06:39 PM | TrackBack
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