all he were saying / is give war a chance / all he were saying / is give war a chance / all he were saying / is give war a chance / all he were saying

BBC Washington correspondent Matt Frei.

Every year, in accord with requirements in the United States Constitution, the President gives a State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress. President Bush gave his seventh State of the Union address on Tuesday.

The centerpiece and most closely watched part of the speech were his comments about his War in Iraq, which is spiraling down a toilet of violence, and his new "troop surge" plan to send 21,000 new U.S. combat troops to Iraq, and achieve Victory for the USA.

Since the beginning of January, both houses of Congress have come under the control of the Democratic Party. President Bush is a Republican.

Although as Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. military, Bush does not need Congress' permission to order the troops to Iraq, he nevertheless needs a considerable degree of Congress' support for his new plan. So he asked Congress to give his plan time to succeed.

The BBC's Washington correspondent Matt Frei provided color commentary for the BBC's coverage of the State of the Union address. In describing Bush's speech, Frei said the President was begging the hostile Congress to "Give War A Chance."

(About 200 headline writers from Australia to Scotland to North Dakota picked up on the same phrase.)

In 1969, at the height of the Vietnam War, John Lennon recorded one of his most famous songs. The song and title are indelibly tattooed on the memories of anyone who had a radio and lived through the ghastly murderous lost war (52,000 US military deaths) which today's war-happy Bush-friendly Republicans insist has utterly no bearing on or similarities to Bush's crazy fucked-up loser War in Iraq.

Matt Frei (see bio below) clearly is familiar with the song.

Give Peace A Chance

by John Lennon

Ev'rybody's talkin' 'bout
Bagism, Shagism, Dragism, Madism, Ragism, Tagism
This-ism, that-ism, ism ism ism
All we are saying is give peace a chance
All we are saying is give peace a chance

(C'mon)
Ev'rybody's talkin' 'bout
Minister, Sinister, Banisters and Canisters,
Bishops, Fishops, Rabbis, and Pop Eyes, Bye bye, Bye byes
All we are saying is give peace a chance
All we are saying is give peace a chance

(Let me tell you now)
Ev'rybody's talkin' 'bout
Revolution, Evolution, Masturbation, Flagellation, Regulation,
Integrations, mediations, United Nations, congratulations
All we are saying is give peace a chance
All we are saying is give peace a chance

Ev'rybody's talkin' 'bout
John and Yoko, Timmy Leary, Rosemary,
Tommy Smothers, Bobby Dylan, Tommy Cooper,
Derek Taylor, Norman Mailer, Alan Ginsberg, Hare Krishna
Hare Hare Krishna
All we are saying is give peace a chance
All we are saying is give peace a chance

=========

Matt Frei has been the BBC's Washington correspondent since 2002.

Prior to that he was the BBC's Asia correspondent based in Singapore, and in Hong Kong -- taking up his post just before the handover to China.

He joined the BBC in 1986 shortly after leaving university.

His first job was in the German section of the BBC World Service, before moving to English language Current Affairs from 1987 to 1988.

From 1992 to 1996 he was BBC Southern Europe correspondent in Rome from where he covered events in Bosnia, North Africa and the Mafia.

Matt has witnessed many dramatic events including the fall of Berlin Wall and reported on the intifada and the Gulf War as the London foreign affairs correspondent.

Matt has won several awards including the Amnesty International Asia Award in 1997 and 1998 for his reports on Vietnam and Indonesia and a Royal Television Society International News Award for his reports of turmoil in East Timor.

Matt Frei was born on November 26, 1963 in Essen Germany. He went to school in Germany until his family moved to London when he was 10.

He read History and Spanish at Oxford University, graduating in 1986.