Bill Bennett: “I echo the comments of the senior Senator from Delaware and recognize his expertise as a former chairman of the Foreign…”

“I echo the comments of the senior Senator from Delaware and recognize his expertise as a former chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and assure him that I took the same message he did, that Tony Blair is trying to remind us all of that which we instinctively know: the importance of friends. I took great pleasure in the fact that he cited America's history in establishing friends and, indeed, spoke a little bit against his own history when he talked about empires that sought for land or territory or power but that the Americans seek only to export liberty to those places where it has not yet taken hold. And that is the cause around which the entire world must repair. I would add one other thought to the thoughts that have been made. I agree with the Senator from California that was the best explanation she has ever heard in a speech. And I must add, not only is it the best one that I have ever heard, that includes speeches I have given, which, for a politician, is a tough thing to have to admit. I was struck by his comment that I think should resonate throughout the current debate, and that is the debate over Iraq, the motivations for going into Iraq, the prelude that built up to the decision in Iraq; that is, when he said, as best I can recall: If we were wrong, all we have done is free a people from a horrible tyrant and brought freedom to millions, and history will forgive us that error.”