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My thoughts:
Bush did a very good job of presenting himself. He often sounds wooden when giving speeches, like he is reading off cue cards. And I HATE his William-Shatner-style dramatic pauses that he likes to do. He didn't do that in this speech. He sounded well-rehearsed (to the point of being slightly hoarse) and confident.
An NPR commentator afterwards criticized the president for not really mentioning freedom and democracy, and instead focusing on Iraq as part of the War on Terror. Iraq wasn't really about that. Saddam inflicted terror on his own people, but if this was a War on Terror we would be invading the Saudis, not Saddam. The commentator didn't think Bush's message would play well internationally, and I agree.
I also thought his point about "disgraceful conduct by a few American troops" in relation to the torture scandal was awfully ballsy to say in a speech. Bush had better be really, really, really sure that none of his commanders were directly involved. If it comes out that anyone at the general level or above knew about the abuse, that quote is going to hurt Bush a lot.
Overall, this was one of the best quality speeches I have heard Bush do. I'm not sure how it will play out with the public. I suspect people that like him will keep liking him, and people that don't like him will keep disliking him. Where Bush may have succeeded tonight is in keeping people that like him, but were upset at him and shaken in their confidence by the recent scandals and lack of direction. For those people, Bush may have convinced some to stay on his side.
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