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From WNYC in New York, this is NPR's On the Media. I'm Brooke Gladstone.

And I'm Bob Garfield. It was the fifth anniversary of 9-11, and to commemorate the infamy, the president addressed the nation. For 17 minutes, he spoke of tragedy, grief, solidarity, and vigilance. Oh, and Iraq.

He also brought up Iraq. Whatever mistakes have been made in Iraq, the worst mistake would be to think that if we

pulled out, the terrorists would leave us alone. They will not leave us alone. They will follow us.

The safety of America depends on the outcome of the battle in the streets of Baghdad.

It was a brief but remarkable tangent, rich with contradictions. For one thing, only minutes earlier the president

had claimed to, quote, the world is safer because Saddam Hussein is no longer in power.

And terrorists at our heels is a counterintuitive image of safety. Secondly, passive voice or

no, the words mistakes have been made constituted a rare

moment of self-criticism from the Bush administration about the war. One day before, after all,

Vice President Cheney had declared, it was the right thing to do, and if we had it to do over

again, we do exactly the same thing. For many, though, the most discordant note

...