So everybody is linking to the speech Cheney made yesterday at the American Enterprise Institute. And rightly so.

And Victor Davis Hanson's latest in National Review is a perfect accompaniment.

Nothing in Cheney's speech is news, but I do not think that our leaders can reiterate enough what exactly it is we are doing, and the philosophy behind it. People obviously need reminders. How I see it is: Well, actually, I am going to quote somebody else, but unfortunately I cannot remember who exactly said it. I think it might have been Lileks. The quote was: "To Bush, every day is September 12." To Bush, there is no more September 10 world. The world that existed on September 10 is gone, dead, forever. Buh-bye. There are new rules now. It's a new landscape.

This is difficult. Challenging. Obviously. Who the hell wouldn't want to return to September 10? Who the hell wouldn't want to look at the world and global politics through the old filter?

Cheney could not be clearer:

For decades, terrorists have waged war against this country; now under the leadership of President Bush, America is waging war against them. Our strategy in the war on terror is based on a clear understanding of the enemy and a clear assessment of our national interest.

Having lost thousands of Americans on a single morning, we are not going to answer further danger by simply issuing diplomatic protests or sharply worded condemnations. We will not wait in false comfort while terrorists plot against innocent Americans. We will not permit outlaw states and terror groups to join forces in a deadly alliance that could threaten the lives of millions of Americans. We will act and act decisively before gathering threats can inflict catastrophic harm on the American people.

Cheney asks:

The ability to criticize is one of the great strengths of our democracy, but those who do so have an obligation to answer this question: How could any responsible leader have ignored the Iraqi threat?

I saw Clinton on C-Span, talking to a class at the University of Arkansas who was studying his presidency. It was riveting. Clinton said about GWB, when one student made a comment implying that Bush was somehow responsible for September 11, "He just got there." The other thing he said which stuck in my mind was (and I'm paraphrasing, obviously): "As the President, you are not really allowed to ignore the intelligence put in front of you. You cannot be confronted with reports from the intelligence agencies and say 'Well, I'm just going to ignore this, and hope it's not true.' When I was President, we had intelligence that Saddam Hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction. When George Bush Sr. was President, he had intelligence that Saddam Hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction."

This was something new to contemplate, having never, myself, been elected to the Presidency: You are surrounded by people who tell you the state of the world. No man is an island. The President is not an island. This is why, clearly, you must be surrounded by people you trust.

If someone comes to me for advice, and I comply, and give them advice, which they then are angered by ... Well, then, I will hesitate to give advice in the future. The friend maybe just wants to complain about the situation. Or the friend doesn't REALLY want my advice, they just want to bitch and moan ... Which is FINE, let's just be clear about what is going on. Don't ask for advice, if you're not prepared to hear an answer you may not like.

And, as always, the next question one must always ask after receiving advice about a sticky situation is: "All righty then, so what NOW? What should be DONE?" Doing nothing is too risky.

Cheney says:

And our president did not ignore that information; he faced it. He sought to eliminate the threat by peaceful diplomatic means and when all else failed he acted forcefully to remove the danger. Consider another passage from last October's National Intelligence Estimate.

It reported, quote, "All key aspects--the R and D, production and weaponization of Iraq's offensive biological weapons program are active and that most elements are larger and more advanced than they were before the Gulf War," end quote.

Remember, we were dealing here with a regime that had already killed thousands of people with chemical weapons. Against this background, to disregard the NIE's warnings would have been irresponsible in the extreme.

Victor Davis Hanson's piece is (like all his pieces are) a breath of fresh optimism. He is not a Pollyanna, he is not a naive man. He is also not a puppet of the Bush administration. He's a scholar, a thinker. He's got a long LONG view.

Hanson tackles what he calls the "group speak" being circulated at the moment: "We need to carefully separate larger truths from the folklore that our elite mob for the moment is mouthing."

One of the pieces of "group speak" Hanson tackles is:

The lack of tangible evidence of weapons of mass destruction undermines the success of the war — and gives powerful ammunition to the Democrats' criticism of Mr. Bush.

Hanson says, flatly:

This would be true if there had not been ample reasons presented for going to war — from Saddam's violation of the 1991 accords, his expulsion of U.N. inspectors, his past history of invading and attacking his neighbors, his connection with terrorists, and prior confirmation by the U.N. and the Clinton administration of a continued Iraq WMD program.

It is my belief that history will forgive us if some of the intelligence we received was exaggerated, even incorrect. But I don't think history will forgive us if we, faced with all of this intelligence, chose to do nothing.

Cheney speaks of the mission in terms both lofty and practical (a perfect foreign policy stance):

We do this not only because it is right, but because it is essential to our own security, the security of our friends and allies and to our eventual victory in the war against terrorism. Our soldiers serving so bravely in Iraq and Afghanistan today know they are ensuring a safer future for their own children and for all of us.

In the 22 months since that clear September morning when America was attacked, we have not lost focus or been distracted or wavered in the performance of our duties.

We will not rest until we have overcome the threat of terror. We will not relent until we have assured the freedom and security of the American people.