Is this the more secure Middle East we were promised?

President Bush – February, 2003:

The safety of the American people depends on ending this direct and growing threat. Acting against the danger will also contribute greatly to the long-term safety and stability of our world. The current Iraqi regime has shown the power of tyranny to spread discord and violence in the Middle East. A liberated Iraq can show the power of freedom to transform that vital region, by bringing hope and progress into the lives of millions. America’s interests in security, and America’s belief in liberty, both lead in the same direction: to a free and peaceful Iraq.

…snip…

Success in Iraq could also begin a new stage for Middle Eastern peace, and set in motion progress towards a truly democratic Palestinian state. The passing of Saddam Hussein’s regime will deprive terrorist networks of a wealthy patron that pays for terrorist training, and offers rewards to families of suicide bombers. And other regimes will be given a clear warning that support for terror will not be tolerated.

This Morning:

One of the major points President Bush made in the leadup to the Iraq War was that our intervention there would start a domino effect of democracy and peace. He told us that freedom would overcome tyranny, that reason would overcome radicalism, and that a stable Iraqi government would starve off the money fueling conflict in the region.

My question to you, President Bush, is simple: Where is my peaceful Middle East?

You made a promise to not only the American people, but to the world. You told us you had a plan for peace. But after years of fighting, hundreds of thousands of deaths, and billions of dollars, what do we have to show for all of this? Nothing.

President Bush, you told us later that year that the critics who were trying to warn us were simply mistaken about your plans in Iraq. You told us freedom was on the march:

This is a massive and difficult undertaking — it is worth our effort, it is worth our sacrifice, because we know the stakes. The failure of Iraqi democracy would embolden terrorists around the world, increase dangers to the American people, and extinguish the hopes of millions in the region. Iraqi democracy will succeed — and that success will send forth the news, from Damascus to Teheran — that freedom can be the future of every nation. The establishment of a free Iraq at the heart of the Middle East will be a watershed event in the global democratic revolution.

If this is what freedom spreading throughout the Middle East looks like, then I don’t know if I can handle any more of Bush’s peace…