Those poor, un-free, brown people

I did catch a few minutes of the President's speech the other day, and just remembered this tidbit:

Some of the debate really center around the fact that people don't believe Iraq can be free; that if you're Muslim, or perhaps brown-skinned, you can't be self-governing and free. I strongly disagree with that. I reject that, because I believe that freedom is the deepest need of every human soul, and, if given a chance, the Iraqi people will be not only self-governing, but a stable and free society.

Um, excuse me? Has anyone, anywhere ever heard this "debate" where someone said that brown people can't be self-governing? Who has this man been listening to? India is a pretty darn good example of a brown-skinned, self-governing, free nation.

This is what's known as the straw man argument. Basically, misrepresent your opponent's position, then disagree with the misrepresentation, and therefore discredit the opponent. In other words, it's a cheap shot used by someone that doesn't have rational grounds for his argument.

Now if anyone can show me one credible opponent to the war that has said Iraqis can't be free because they have "brown skin," then I'll eat my words. (KKK members don't count.)