Day of Justice for the Iraqi People

KEY POINT: Iraqis received the justice they deserved. However, Iraq is still in a civil war and American soldiers are still trapped in the middle. Today is another opportunity for the President to change course in Iraq.

The Iraqi people received the justice they long deserved. Saddam was a brutal tyrant who brought harm to millions. Hopefully, his sentence will begin to heal some of the wounds he inflicted on his own country.

But more than three and half years after the start of the war, Iraq has descended into a civil war. The U.S. Central Command says Iraq is sliding toward chaos, and our intelligence agencies say Iraq is making the war on terror more difficult to win.

The Iraqi people have traded a dictator for chaos. Neither option is acceptable, especially when our troops are caught in the middle.

We have seen milestones pass in Iraq before, with no lasting signs of progress. If today's sentence is to be different, we need to take a new direction in Iraq.

On this day of justice for the Iraqi people, President Bush must explain to the American people how he intends to change course, so our troops will finally have a strategy to complete the mission, the Iraqis can live in peace and the mission can finally be accomplished.