America's new M.O.

"There's no question that if we were to prematurely withdraw and the march to democracy were to fail, then al-Qaida would be emboldened," Bush said. "Terrorist groups would be emboldened. The Islamo-fascists would be emboldened."

Edit: When I first posted this entry, I thought the press meeting was Wednesday March 22nd. I was mistaken. I've made a correction to the post below, noting it was Tuesday. LL

At Tuesday's press conference, Bush inferred that he has no imminent plans to withdraw troops from Iraq. In fact, he's quoted as saying that our nation's continued presence in Iraq "will be decided by future presidents and future governments of Iraq."

As the Bushism quoted at the top suggests, he's showing concern that a withdrawl from Iraq will demostrate American weakness, and thus "embolden" bad guys. What is kind of left hanging, though, bookended by mention of two Muslim groups, is the vague term of terrorist group. What does he mean by that vague term? A blog entry by Thunder over at Wolfesblog might give us a clue. At least in the state of Virginia, if you are a property rights activist, animal rights activist, environmental activist or considered a religious extremist by the State, then you just might be a "terrorist." Another example of guilty until proven innocent, the new American modus operandi.