The arrogance of our enemies

Here's something from Austin Bay's discussion board.

Despots and autocrats are the first enemy. The despot, with an arrogance that comes from never being held responsible for his crimes, believes his iron resolve eventually will trump the spineless advocates of democracy. Despots -- like the Saddamist holdouts fighting in Iraq -- believe all they need to do is keep killing until everyone is cowed. Why not? It's worked for them before. The arrogance only ends when a Green Beret -- or, with increasing frequency, an Iraqi cop -- blows his head off in a raid.

Franks says Bush is "the real thing"

An excerpt from a speech by Tommy Franks at the Republican convention last week:

The Global War on Terrorism will be a long fight. But make no mistake we are going to fight the terrorists. The question is do we fight them over there -- or do we fight them here. I choose to fight them over there. Some argue that we should treat this war as a law enforcement issue. Some say we should fight a less aggressive war -- that we should retreat into a defensive posture and hope that the terrorists don't attack us again. Well, my wife Cathy and I are simply not willing to bet our grandchildren's future on the 'good will' of murderers. I learned long ago that hope is not a strategy. In the years ahead, America will be called upon to demonstrate character, consistency, courage, and leadership. Lincoln once said, "Character is like a tree and reputation is like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing." Citizens and friends, I've been with this President in tough, uncertain times. George W. Bush is "the real thing."