by Mark Silva
In the president's commencment address today at the U.S. Air Force Academy -- he always includes one service academy in thre three graduation speeches that he delivers each year -- he will talk about how much, and how little, has changed since World War II.
The president will "compare and contrast the careers that the Class of 2008 will have compared with that of the World War II generation,'' says Dana Perino, the White House press secretary.
The president will talk about the differences and similarities in air power and warfare.
And he will "draw parallels'' between post-war conditions in Germany and Japan and today's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The president plans to talk about "one constant -- that freedom has the power to overcome tyranny and transform societies,'' Perino says.
. Bush plans to say: "America has assumed this obligation before. After World War II we helped Germany and Japan build free societies and strong economies. These efforts took time and patience, and as a result Germany and Japan grew in freedom and prosperity and are now allies of the United States.
"And we have reaped the benefits in generations of security and peace,'' the president will say in his speech. "Today we must do the same in Afghanistan and Iraq, and by helping these young democracies grow in freedom and prosperity we will once again reap the benefits in generations of security and peace."
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Comments
I'll bet the women and men sitting in their chairs awaiting their degrees and commissions will feel like the little kids in Florida listening to George II read "My Pet Goat" while the U.S. was under attack. Bright eyed and bushy tailed, eager to cross the golden threshold of life and go help build Iraq with the same spirit that Japan and Germany were rebuilt. Hopefully they will have read their history books and have the intelligence to know that there is no comparison between Iraq and Afghanistan, and Japan and Germany. It would be interesting to know what is going through their minds as they listen to this extremely unpopular president, who was elected when they were probably still freshmen in high school. I wonder how many of them, if they could, would turn their backs on him out of protest.
Posted by: GW | May 28, 2008 8:32 AM
Nice that an air force vet was addressing the Air Force Academy... or is he really a vet? Anybody ever figure out where he was during those years? I remember something about visiting his dentist and then Dan Rather got fired. What was that all about?
Posted by: Kenneth Janowski | May 28, 2008 11:00 AM
I have a nephew graduating from the AFA today. It's an honor to have the president of the USA speak at one's graduation ceremony. Despite the adolescent sniping and historical amnesia of many in our society, there are many young people like my nephew who see the valid parallels between WWII and the current struggle against -filled ism. I'm thankful for these capable, bright, and courageous young people - far classier than most of their cynical critics.
Posted by: AJW | May 28, 2008 11:44 AM
What is it, " AJW ": "My country right or wrong! ", or how about, " America, love it or leave it " !! Did you ever stop to think, where America would be, if the American Revolutionaries followed either of those tenets ?!! No America. Citizenry 101 : It is our solemn obligation to be critical of our government, or any of our elected officials, who we think are betraying the Constitution and its principles !! It is as basic as that! If you can't see the relevancy of this, in relation to the present administration, than you have your ideological blinders on and there is no hope for you !!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, Chicago | May 28, 2008 12:17 PM
AJW, no one is criticism your nephew or any of the other graduates of the AF Academy or other institutions of higher education. At least not yet. Let's see how your nephew applies his education and hope that he and his classmates are resolved to transcend the kind of idiocy of the person who is addressing his class. Maybe you need to go read the history books.
Posted by: GW | May 28, 2008 12:18 PM
I feel sorry for the graduates. Being forced to listen to this illiterate moron, babble about "drawing parallels'' between post-war conditions in Germany and Japan, and today's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Perhaps he should have spoke about the comparisons between Algeria and Iraq. Edward Luttwak also mentions Algeria in a critique of a recent update of a U.S. “counterinsurgency” manual (FM 3-24 DRAFT). One signifigant change, in his view, is in a comparison of the list of “selected readings” from the earlier manual (FM 3-07.22), in which the first selection was “The Battle of the Casbah:Terrorism & Counterterrorism in Algeria, 1955-57″ by Paul Aussaresses. The entire article carries out a useful analysis of the political characteristics of insurgencies (& of insurgents, which word probably delineates more closely the situation in Iraq, rather than the term “guerilla”). Keep shining the light on this…Listen to Alistair Horne on Algeria and Iraq here... http://www.radioopensource.org/horne-on-algeria-iraq-and-rumsfeld/
Posted by: Logic Prisoner | May 28, 2008 2:52 PM
Yep, Bush is all in favor of helping Iraqis in times of trouble. It's just Americans in times of trouble that he doesn't care about. He wants to curt services for Americans at the same time he wants to increase services for Iraqis. Is he confused about what country he is elected to serve?
Posted by: Bush hates America | May 28, 2008 6:49 PM
I hope they can fly better than Senator McCain did. Bush speaking to these future combatants is laughable. Some day their grandchildren may ask, Grandpa who spoke at your graduation from the Air Force Academy. Well kids it was George Bush, the worst president ever. What an honor!
Posted by: Citizen X | May 28, 2008 8:56 PM