Executive editor Robert Parham:

“While he reinforced the widespread view that Saddam Hussein is a brutal tyrant, Bush failed to make the case of a just war against Iraq,” Parham said. “He fanned the flames for war without showing the American public the ‘smoking gun,’ which would help to speak to the principle of just cause.” Parham also said Bush’s speech failed to deal with another criterion for a just war. “The president did not address the principle of reasonable hope of success”, Parham said. That is, how the American military’s prolonged occupation of Iraq would make America safer from further acts of terrorism. On the contrary, military occupation would likely breed even more terrorism. ”