Watching President Bush give a televised address to the nation is a favorite event for me and my friends – regardless of our political preferences.

The more liberal-leaning among us are constantly searching for the president’s bloopers including stutters, mispronunciations and misplaced twitches of the lip. As we all know, there are plenty to go around.

But those of us who are more conservative-minded are still inspired. Regardless of a few of Dubya’s policy failures, we still find comfort in a southern Texas drawl and world revolutionary ideas.

It may seem impractical and overly idealistic to believe that the Middle East can be revived from violence and hate, but there’s a hint of courage in our president for standing by his deepest convictions. So, we put our hope in him.

To be honest, I’m frustrated with the war in Iraq. I’m tired of young Americans (our peers) dying in a foreign country. I’m troubled by Department of Defense mistakes like Abu Ghraib that weaken the U.S.’s credibility around the globe.

I’m disheartened that children in poverty continue to attend schools that are inadequately resourced while billions of tax dollars go to the Middle East.

For all of these reasons, I was prepared prior to his speech to take a disapproving stance on the president’s new Iraq policy that calls for 20,000 additional U.S. troops. After all, the American people voted for change in November.

So, I watched President Bush deliver his address Wednesday night – and I changed my mind.

Instead, I am uncertain of this new policy. Just like Republicans, I’m uncertain. Just like Democrats, I’m uncertain. Just like most of you, I’m uncertain.

The truth is the Middle East is in shambles. Extremism is abounding in Israeli-Palestinian relations, in Iran’s nuke-seeking President Ahmadinejad and in terrorist organizations unofficially aided by vengeful political leaders.

All of this chaos has a direct impact on our national security. Terrorist organizations are fueling attacks and some leaders are threatening the U.S. with nuclear ambitions.

Yet, despite all these troubles, our country has continued to be a nation of high ideals and international respect. For all of the failures we have seen in Iraq, we have still deposed a brutal dictator who was committing acts of genocide against his own people.

We have also assisted Iraq in building a democratic form of government. Those acts alone justify four years of sacrifice.

The time has come for the Iraqi people to take control of their own country. We can’t do it for them. This is why I’m uncertain whether 20,000 additional troops will aid Iraq towards this objective, but it’s worth a short-term attempt.

As the president acknowledged, “A successful strategy for Iraq goes beyond military operations.” So, we will watch in anticipation as diplomats and strategists practice compromise and deliver education to the region.

We will also judge whether President Bush’s decision not to interact with Iran and Syria is wise. The bipartisan Iraq Study Group recommended that the Bush administration open dialogue with both nations to practice diplomacy first.

But the president announced that our military forces would continue to “interrupt the flow of support from Iran and Syria” instead. It’s idealistic to believe that you don’t have to interact with your enemies, but again, I’m uncertain of whether this policy is pragmatic.

As this costly war marches on, we all will continue to watch the news – remaining undecided, and find comfort in the U.S. Congress for accurately representing the hesitation and uncertainty of our people.

We can also find comfort in our president for not taking the easy road towards popular will, but instead, leading us toward the victory we would like to achieve.

The battles in Iraq may be fought against extremism, but the homeland battle in America is fought between idealism and realism. We don’t know all the answers, and we can’t be certain that any proposal will be successful.

Perhaps the Iraq Study Group said it best when it opened its report with this line: “There is no magic formula to solve the problems of Iraq.”

To President Bush – we hope you’re right. To Congress – keep asking the difficult questions. To our troops – we support you indefinitely. To the rest of us – we just don’t know.