Bush’s State Of The Union Essay, Research Paper

Essay 3.01 part 4

Recently, President Bush gave his State of the Union Address to Congress. Throughout his speech, he makes a solid case for the further unification of America throughout these harsh times. He makes a very strong argument for the retaliation of the actions committed against America. However, when he speaks of bringing the terrorists to justice, his argument falters. He has made a hasty judgement with little proof when he first began his argument.

Bush also presented a very strong argument in support America’s unification process. He speaks of the American people and what he has already witnessed in past weeks, such as the lighting of candles, the prayers of Americans, the outpouring of monetary support. He builds his case that America is good and what America is doing right now is good. He then goes on to speak of all of the evils that the terrorist groups have committed, and how the Taliban hates and oppresses even its own people, “The Afghanistan people have been brutalized; many are starving and have fled. Women are not allowed to attend school. You can be arrested for owning a television. Religion can be practiced only as their leader’s dictate. A man can be jailed there if his beard is too long.” President Bush shares this information in an effort to show just how evil the regime in Afghanistan is. In so doing, it serves to point out the differences between the Americans and those from Afghanistan.

This argument is further strengthened by his explanation of how these people hate us simply for our way of life. Their goal is to totally destroy the way that we live. Bush states, “They hate what we see right here in this chamber a democratically elected government . . . they hate our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and to assemble and to disagree with each other.” In this statement Bush is making it clear that they hate Americans and all of the values that America stands for. In essence he is giving us a reason to hate them as well and fueling the fires of war.

Bush’s argument was solid in making the point that America is not attacking all Muslims, but just this one sect of the religion. Bush states:

We respect your faith … Its teachings are good and peaceful, and those who commit evil in the name of Allah blasphemes the name of Allah … The enemy is not our Muslim friends; it is not our Arab friends. Our enemy is a radical network of terrorists and every government that supports them.

This statement serves two functions. It Allows the rest of the Arab world to know that America is not at war with them and it also serves to let Americans know that American Muslims are not our enemy. This helps in unifying America because it aids in bluring the lines of race and religion that have become very clear for many Americans since the attack took place. Hate crimes have become a common place over the past few weeks and have only further driven a wedge in the unification of America.

Bush’s argument that it was the Al Qaeda that committed these crimes comes off being quite weak. There is no evidence that fully supports that it was that terrorist group that committed the attack on America. He states in his speech that, “The evidence we have gathered all points to a collection of loosely affiliated terrorists known as Al Qaeda.” In his speech, he does not mention any of this so-called evidence that leads to the belief that it was definitively this group. In all actuality, it could have been any number of terrorist groups throughout the world that committed this act. It has been said that the Prime Minister of Britain has irrefutable proof that it was specifically this organization that is responsible for the terrorist attack. However, the American people have not been allowed to see this proof. Bush, in this argument, also mentions bringing these terrorists to justice. The justice that he speaks of is most certainly not the justice system that we follow here in the United States. One of the founding principles of our legal system is the premise that a person is innocent until they are proven to be guilty. In this country, there is a legal process that is upheld for everyone who commits a crime. Most Americans would call the Oklahoma City bombing a national tragedy, and one in which the first people blamed for that act of violence were terrorist groups throughout the world. We later learned that it was one of our own citizens who had committed an act of treason against his country. Even he was afforded a fair trial in this country, and he was found to be guilty. Only then can we truly say that justice was upheld. In the more recent case of the towers and the pentagon, much more circumstantial evidence is being used as proof for our retaliatory efforts. Is this the American system of justice? There are bombs being dropped abroad that are not just killing terrorists but innocent victims. All of this due to a mass of gathered circumstantial. This is not what America stands for; this is clearly not justice. We must have the proof in order to support this action. It’s the American way.

As tensions for war grows in our country Bush, is faced with the many problems that will accompany war. This speech went a long way to emphasize the importance of unification at current. These terrorists are the destroyers of freedoms. They represent everything that we stand against and it is our duty to help rid the world of these people. It is this message that Bush’s speech most strongly conveys. This also requires the unification of the country, as does any war. America could not be fighting without the support of the American people backing it. As a president, it is part of their job to help unify without feuling that fire of hatred in the nation during a war. He helps to ease the hatred that is already afflicting this country. Overall, Bush very well accomplished what he had set out to accomplish in this speech. The only thing that would have really strengthened his argument for war would have been to give more proof as to why the people we are attacking committed this crime.

Bibliography

Bush,George. “State of the union address” 2001