State of the Union address: on Foreign Policy

George W. Bush: America will never seek a permission slip for self-defense

George W. Bush: National Endowment for Democracy in the Middle East

I believe that God has planted in every human heart the desire to live in freedom. And even when that desire is crushed by tyranny for decades, it will rise again. As long as the Middle East remains a place of tyranny and despair and anger, it will continue to produce men and movements that threaten the safety of America and our friends.

So America is pursuing a forward strategy of freedom in the greater Middle East. We will challenge the enemies of reform, confront the allies of terror and expect a higher standard from our friend. I will send you a proposal to double the budget of the National Endowment for Democracy and to focus its new work on the development of free elections and free markets, free press and free labor unions in the Middle East.

Nancy Pelosi: Avoid go-it-alone foreign policy

The president led us into the Iraq war on the basis of unproven assertions without evidence. He embraced a radical doctrine of preemptive war unprecedented in our history, and he failed to build a true international coalition.

Therefore, American taxpayers are bearing almost all the cost: a colossal $120 billion and rising. More importantly, American troops are enduring almost all the casualties: tragically, 500 killed and thousands more wounded.