Iraq: Consolidating Victory

The point Thomas Friedman was making in his article about the Tet offensive was that the North Vietnamese were very aware of political events in the United States, and their offensive before elections, while militarily a disaster, was successful in a political sense in breaking the will of the Americans, especially given the nature of the television coverage given to the battles. The jihadists and insurgents have stepped up murdering Americans hoping to break the will of the decadent United States. Of course, the Democratic media have predictably translated this subtle point to mean: "Iraq is another quagmire like Vietnam." The major media and Democrats continue to cooperate with the insurgents propaganda; such as CNN airing terrorist snuff videos, presumably to discourage Americans from perservering and finishing a difficult task.

For some reason, the "insurgents" seem to believe that getting the Republicans out of office will help their cause; that it is more likely that Democrats will abandon the project unfinished and simple leave Iraq like we left Vietnam to self destruct. That is why they have taken steps to kill the most American troop since January 2005. Regardless of why we got into Iraq, it seems to me that we now have a practical and moral obligation to help the Iraqi people with the project of creating a democracy in the middle of the Arab world. But there is a question as to whether modern American culture has the stomach for such a daunting task . . .
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IRAQ: UNITING AGAINST THE JIHADIS
BUT WORRIED THE AMERICANS WILL SPLIT

by Amir Taheri (NY Post)

October 20, 2006 -- TALK to Iraqis these days, and you'll likely hear one thing: What are the Americans and Brits up to? The worry is that the U.S. and U.K. political mainstreams now regard the Iraq project as a disaster, with cut-and-run, or whistle-and-walk-away, the only options.

Most Iraqis regard the toppling of Saddam Hussein, the dismantling of his machinery of war and oppression and the introduction of pluralist politics to Iraq as an historic success. The issue is how to consolidate that victory, not to snatch defeat from its jaw. Those challenging this historic victory are enemies of both the Western democracies and the Iraqi people.

Iraq today is the central battlefield in the global war between two mutually exclusive visions of the future. Yet the jihadists now know they can't win on that battlefield. After three years of near-daily killings, often in the most horrible manner imaginable, they've failed to alter Iraq's political agenda. Nor have they won control of any territory or even broadened their constituency.

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