Criminals?

I thought we were fighting a War against Terrorists.
Now I will grant you that a terrorist is a criminal.
But a criminal is not necessarily a terrorist.
A terrorist commits his or her crime for political reasons.
A criminal commits his or her crime mostly for personal reasons.

Yesterday President Bush kept calling the people the Iraqi government is trying to get rid of in Basra criminals.
...any government that presumes to represent the majority of people must confront criminal elements or people who think they can live outside the law. And that's what's taking place in Basra and in other parts of Iraq. I would say this is a defining moment in the history of a free Iraq.
...And one of the early questions I had to the Prime Minister was would he be willing to confront criminal elements, whether they be Shia or Sunni?
...And of course, routing out these folks who've burrowed in society, who take advantage of the ability to be criminals, or the ability to intimidate citizens, is going to take a while.

So why does Bush use the word criminal?
It is one thing to help the Iraqi government root out criminals.
It is quite another to be engaged in getting rid of terrorism.
So which is it, Mr. Bush?
Could you, for once, be clear on something, and give us some confidence you know what you are talking about and can explain it?

Questions

President Bush made a speech today, on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq war.
I have a few questions regarding some things he said (quoted verbatim):

"The men and women who crossed into Iraq five years ago removed a tyrant, liberated a country, and rescued millions from unspeakable horrors."
Is the country liberated? The oppression of Saddam is gone, but is the country now liberated?

“The battle in Iraq has been longer and harder and more costly than we anticipated”
Why didn’t you anticipate that?

“The terrorists who murder the innocent in the streets of Baghdad want to murder the innocent in the streets of America.”
How do you know this? And why would they, when they didn't want to do that before April 2003?

“The gains we have made (because of the surge) are fragile and reversible.”
What are you doing to make sure they are not reversed? Because in the same paragraph you say: “The surge is working. And as a return on our success in Iraq, we've begun bringing some of our troops home.”
A quote from somebody else: "There are those who say the Iraqi Army can control Iraq without the Americans. But they are liars. Without the Americans it would be impossible for us to control Iraq."
COL. ALI OMAR ALI, an Iraqi battalion commander in Mosul.

“For the terrorists, Iraq was supposed to be the place where al Qaeda rallied Arab masses to drive America out.”
Can you show this is so, in the light of the fact that Iraq housed no al Qaeda before April 2003?

“By spreading the hope of liberty in the Middle East, we will help free societies take root -- and when they do, freedom will yield the peace that we all desire.”
Can you give any examples of this so far, or show any demonstrable progress since September 11? (Besides the Iraqi elections, on which the verdict is still out, and which needed massive American support.)

“The battle in Iraq is noble, it is necessary, and it is just.”
Was it necessary to eliminate the threat of WMDs? Aside from the bravery and skill of our troups (which they would show in any battle anywhere), what has been noble about this war? There are very few world organizations or leaders, even (or especially) religious ones, who call it just. Why is that?

Rockin in the free world

I have long wanted to place this clip on my weblog, but I haven't found it until now.
It's from Fahrenheit 9/11 (I didn't care for the film that much, mostly because I thought it was not so well done.)
This is at the end of the film, with scenes from the film shown around the music. I had heard that Micheal Moore wanted to use the song by The Who, Won't get fooled Again, but didn't get permission from the rock band.
Neil Young was willing to let this song, written at the time of G. Bush Sr., to be used. (By the way, I think Sr. was a much better president than Jr.)
Anyway, here it is.