Letting The Terrorists Win

From the AP:

BAGHDAD (AP) - The U.S.-led coalition transferred sovereignty to an interim Iraqi government two days early Monday in a surprise move that apparently caught insurgents off guard, averting a feared campaign of attacks to sabotage the historic step toward self-rule.

Legal documents transferring sovereignty were handed over by U.S. governor Paul Bremer to chief justice Midhat al-Mahmood in a small ceremony in the heavily guarded Green Zone. Bremer took charge in Iraq about a year ago.

...

Two hours after the ceremony Bremer left Iraq on a U.S. air force C-130, said Robert Tappan, an official of the former coalition occupation authority. Bremer was accompanied by coalition spokesman Dan Senor and close members of his staff. Bremer's destination was not given, but an aide said he was "going home."

This is interesting for two reasons:

1) The moment those legal documents changed hands, Bremer dumped his file cabinet in a paper shredder and fled on horseback to the awaiting C-130 faster than hizzoner, Mayor Joseph Quimby.

2) In the past, President Bush has given Americans the impression that changing our plans due to fear of potential terrorist attacks is equivalent to surrendering our freedom to terror.

We appreciate your steadfast willingness to fight terror on your own. You stand against terror by flying the airplanes and by maintaining them. You stand against terror by loading a bag or serving a passenger.

And by doing so, you're expressing a firm national commitment that's so important, that we will not surrender our freedom to travel, that we will not surrender our freedoms in America, that while you may think you have struck our soul, you haven't touched it, that we are too strong a nation to be carried down by terrorist activity.

When they struck, they wanted to create an atmosphere of fear. And one of the great goals of this nation's war is to restore public confidence in the airline industry, is to tell the traveling public: "Get on board. Do your business around the country. Fly and enjoy America's great destination spots. Go down to Disney World in Florida, take your families and enjoy life the way we want it to be enjoyed."

Why does President Bush believe brown-skinned people aren't strong enough to avoid being "carried down by terrorist activity?"