Wednesday, September 12, 2007
We are slowly winning in Iraq? Surely not, we need to lose wars not win them!
The irrational sputtering of the uninformed ‘Left’
by Ferdinand III
You can criticise much about the Iraq war. Bush’s asinine propaganda display on an aircraft carrier which announced victory 5-10 years in advance of a stable Iraqi state, epitomizes the poor post-invasion US planning. Yet critical thinking and stern advice is different than desiring a colossal military defeat; the emboldening of Iran and radical fascistic Islam; and the imperilling of the world’s international system. Iraq is the key front in the long war with Islamic radicalism. Yet we see the left, the Democrats, the alphabet soup media, and their long-haired hippie friends, relishing and salivating for a US withdrawal and a military-human catastrophe. The evidence from history and from Iraq is pretty clear – if we want to we can win the war and of course win the peace.
The US is winning in Iraq and has been for some time. The typical US kill ratio in wars is about 15-25 dead enemy combatants for every US soldier killed. This translates into about 50.000 dead jihadists, fascists, and baathists. In pure military terms, jihadic Islam has suffered a crushing defeat. In social terms radical Islam has alienated pretty much the entire Iraqi population save those diehards and murderers who deem that blowing up innocents and lacerating necks is the path to ‘religious’ salvation. The commentary this week from US generals is clear – most Iraqi tribes and the average citizen desire a peaceful united Iraq, not one dominated by proto-fascists of any tribal or ideological affiliation. Being an Iranian slave state is also rather unappealing one would assume to the vast majority of Iraqi’s who want to get on with a normal life.
General Petraeus’ report touches on a few factors that the mainstream media, and their rabid, foaming, teeth-gnashing Marxist friends would like to ignore. First and foremost is the belief held by most Iraqi’s that Iraq should remain united in a loose federation. Apparently few if any Iraqi’s want the dismemberment of their state, so beloved by Democrats, the BBC and CNN as the cure-all solution to the world’s geo-political problems [along with the eradication of Israel and the Joos]. Second, on the ground political progress and social-economic reconstruction is making gains, far ahead of even the most optimistic forecasts from a year ago. Third, the number of attacks, scenes of carnage and wanton murder are declining. Most likely less than 20.000 Iraqis will be murdered this year, as compared to over 30.000 in years previous.
Progress of course stems from a renewed military-security focus. The US had enough troops to subdue and quiet Iraq. Until Petraeus it lacked the leadership and the will to impose itself on Iraq. Thanks to renewed vigor the US is on the threshold of achieving some sort of military-social stability. One year ago, Anbar province was ‘lost’. Al Qaeda is now being annihilated in its only stable constituency. Today civilian murders in Baghdad are down over 50%. Fascist and jihadist attacks have declined by 70% in recent months and oil exports are growing, as are local markets and economic opportunity. Border security while admittedly poor, is still improving, and Iranian meddling has stimulated the very real option of using a military strike to punish Iranian claims to Gulf hegemony. Iraq on many fronts is getting a lot better, not worse.
So if Iraq is getting better, why then should we leave? Quitting on allies and leaving an unstable government will not ‘shock’ Iraq into peace and stability. It will only lead to violence, political deconstruction and a mass murdering civil war, not to mention the creation of Iranian-Turkish and Syrian satellite states. Leaving Iraq would mean its disappearance and the creation of jihadist training grounds which existed pre-2003; Iranian control over most of the Persian Gulf area; a Turkish invasion of the north to kill off the Kurdish PKK and gorge itself on Kirkuk's oil; and Syrian and Saudi meddling in the West and South. Oil revenues would largely fall into our enemies’ hands, and our world position would be damaged for a generation. Terror and Islam would be emboldened and in London, Patterson NJ and in Montreal, dancing Muslims will celebrate another defeat of the Great Satan.
On the other hand as the military-security position improves so too do the longer term prospects of setting up an Iraqi government allied to the West. The best way to do this is to increase the surge and the number of troops involved. A recent US National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq was clear on this point: "Changing the mission of Coalition forces from a primarily counterinsurgency and stabilization role" -- the Petraeus strategy -- "to a primary combat support role for Iraqi forces and counterterrorist operations" -- which most congressional Democrats have been pressing for -- "would erode security gains achieved thus far." Greater military effort, not less is now needed.
So the question is, why would someone want to give up what is working and engage in a plan [running away], that will ensure not only failure, but the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people? Is this the moral ‘purpose’ so coveted and espoused by the Left? Leaving allies in the lurch and people to die, not to mention imperilling national security? Is this the grand plan and vision of the internationalists, the BBC listening corps, and those who watch NBC news? Is a US withdrawal from the affairs of Iraq truly in the best interests of anyone other than adherents of radical Islam?
These are the questions that the mainstream media never asks. These are also the questions never forwarded by the liberal elite jet set. For these folks it is all about relativity; compassion and the fact that the Joos and the Americans have invented the war on terror to solidify world domination and control. Twenty years ago such lunacy would have been laughed at. Today it is mainstream. We should never underestimate the power of cultural Marxism and its fanatical adherents. In this vein one should pray that US policy makers, regardless of party stripe have enough common sense to stay in Iraq and finish the job, whether or not world ‘opinion’ supports such a position. The harder road less traveled is sometimes the only path to the future.