Victor Davis Hanson answers The Angry Reader [Bush gave Bin Laden his wish: war against all Muslims]

Hanson: First, Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan are fighting each other. Thousands battle against Taliban remnants and the hardcore of the Sunni Triangle. But an Islamicist might echo your charges: “That damn George Bush and his democracy have made us fight each other.”
We have taken apart two-thirds of al-Qaeda and forced it to spend its youth and treasure in Iraq, not here. At the same time, al-Qaeda finds itself in the unenviable position of fighting Iraqi Muslims to stop democracy. Who accomplished that? The diabolic George Bush?
As for the wrong country, had you been alive in 1943, would you have railed that we were attacking North Africa or Sicily rather than the Japanese mainland, the only country, after all, that attacked us?
Genocide existed before we invaded Saddam’s Iraq, a regime without any chance of reform. Now terrorists like moths to a searing flame are flocking there and in most cases being incinerated. They show their true colors in trying to destroy a government voted in by the people. When rats flock to a tray of D-Con, few say that the poison created rats out of thin air and made the problem worse. [highlights are mine, T]
I wrote about the need to distance ourselves from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt in a recent Commentary article posted on our website. So we at least agree on the point of supporting democratic reformers and the aspirations of Arab people who have had enough. But remember neither Warren Christopher nor Madeleine Albright gave a speech like Secretary Rice’s June 20^th address at the American University in Cairo—a clear call for democratic reform inside Egypt. Since you don’t mention that, or the total withdrawal of U.S. troops from Saudi Arabia (something never envisioned by Clinton in eight years), I conclude your angst is not one based on principle but the same old furor at George Bush who can do no right.

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Victor Davis Hanson Ping !

Let me know if you want in or out

As for democratic reform, Iraq is now crawling with terrorists, a situation that did not exist before we invaded.

These people are so simple.

Before we invaded, the terrorists wore uniforms and had a government salary.

Simplistic typical liberal nonsense. War against all muslims? what drama queens!
Last I checked the Iraqis and Afghans are muslim and their police and army are fighting the same terrorists we are.
Training with us. Learning to fight terrorism with us.

"These people are so simple."

I don't agree, they know better, they are just being intentially obtuse with the single minded desire of making the Bush administration look bad.

"...they are just being intenti[on]ally obtuse "
Well, I could see it: one begins by intentionally pretending to be obtuse, then grows into the role and finally cannot shed the obtuse mask and becomes naturally obtuse. It could be made into a comic movie script.

Add me, please.

I heard or read somewhere that there is no single Iraqi among suicide bombers in Iraq. All of them where foreigners.

Did you see any statistic proving or disproving this fact?

In regards of what you are saying Before we invaded, the terrorists wore uniforms and had a government salary

There was a good debate about what to do with the Iraqi Army: send it home, or simply cynically keep it in barracks, pay them salary, just keep them "fat and lazy". The first idea had won, for the reason that the majority of Iraqis - Shia and Kurds were underrepresented in the army and would not approve of such move.

I put a big part of the blame on the Turks: they did not let us to come from the North and kill enough of the opposition in the Sunni triangle.

When rats flock to a tray of D-Con, few say that the poison created rats out of thin air and made the problem worse.

You chose wisely.

Hanson's grasp of the situation is only surpased by his mastery of English.

Dr. Hanson's response is spot-on.

BUMP!

HANSON 2008!!!!!

When rats flock to a tray of D-Con, few say that the poison created rats out of thin air and made the problem worse.

That's a pretty lousy metaphor. Rats can't see the tray of D-Con on television and fly out to where it is. It doesn't mean he's wrong about the more general point, but faulty metaphors can lead to faulty judgments.

Did anyone else think of Dodd when they saw rats and d-con in that sentence?

I recently read an article written be : Howard Kaloogian, who particpated in "The Truth Tour" to Iraq. You can find it archived on: http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/07/13/opinion/commentary/17_28_497_12_05.txt In an Interview with the former Lt. General Abdul Qader Jassim of Saddam's army, where the Lt. General Jassim took a courageous stand with Saddam, that enough was enough of terriorism. Saddam threw him in prison for 7 years and he was freed when we invaded. He described how Saddam trained terrorists and sent them into Israel, Lebanon and other places. Some of these terrorists are now returning to Iraq. This General Jassim should know as he is the one that Saddam put in place to train these terrorists, believed to be approx. 4,000 of them in Iraq before the coalition invasion. Gen. Jassim is now in charge of the Iraq Army and working hard to to train them to defeat the terrorists and protect his country. Now, the present army is a rather rag-tag and without a lot of the necessities, but they have a lot of heart and are willing to risk everything to free 'their Iraq' from these teriorists. It never ceases to amaze me that when a terrorist bomber blows himself up in front of the Iraqi Police Station, killing himself and taking the lives of many recruits reporting for duty, there are a mass of new recruits to take the place of the fallen. They truly want to live in a Free Iraq. In a letter received from our son Greg stationed in Iraq, is only one of the many of our US Military who is helping with training this new army and it's brigades. Below you will find some excerpts from his 11 May 2005 letter. Thanks again, to all of you who are praying for this fellow Freeper, his men, and all our Brave Troops. He has been unable to check in to FR or post as he is being kept rather busy these day! Until....the next letter from Iraq received...and posted to FR.....God Bless you, everyone!! Soldiers Praying Mom Excerpts from 11 May, "05 letter: ".....The Iraqi government is doing little to support them. They have “Soldiers” who go on these raids wearing flip flops, because of the lack of boots. There are little uniforms, mainly mismatched sets. The communications are horrendous. The main Cellular phone company is “Iraqna” and they own a monopoly, and all Sims cards are through this company. Never mind hearing a pin drop, because you can hardly get through. The officers are coordinating during the raids with these personal cellular phones that are pay by the minute, and use these “Sims Cards”........ These Soldiers make squat, and are once again using their meager salary, taking away from their families to make this work, and work for a safe Iraq. I feel so helpless, but outside of a few donations from my personal gear, a few purchases at the PX, there is not a whole lot else I can do. I would be bankrupt in 3 months. I have kids for that…......" "I do want to add, that there is not a word of grumbling to be heard from them. It is a pleasure to watch them work, and we are beginning to have a strong bond and a friendship, that I could never have imagined 1 year ago. When we arrive at the compound, their eyes light up, and they are so happy to see us, as we are them. There is a bond here that cannot be broken. As it was explained to me by a Lieutenant Colonel with the Brigade….. “There is a bond with Warriors so strong, that it is stronger than with family and brothers.” I thought about what he said later, and do agree. As soldiers, we live in the dirt together, watch each others backs in firefights, do things that I have never done nor will do with my own siblings, and live in the same danger together." In conclusion: Yes, the terrorists did once wear Iraqi uniforms and were paid a salary, and now they are coming back into Iraq as "Saddam's Sadistic Sympathizers" and God only knows where else in the world they will turn up.

My apologizes, for the lack of paragraphing on this post. I'm new to this, so if anyone knows how to fix this mess, please, feel free to do so. I did have it paragraphed in the original state, but when I hit post it .....well, what you see, is what you get.

I heard or read somewhere that there is no single Iraqi among suicide bombers in Iraq. All of them where foreigners.

No, I believe you are correct. The people planning, funding, running the insurrection are of two groups, the old Baathist secret police types, and the Al Qaeda Zarqawi types.

In most cases the people blowing themselves up, or being blown up by a second party helpfully using a cellphone, are foreigners, in many cases recruited in places like Sudan. Obviously the Baathists, the ex-Special Republican Guard, the former secret police, and the Al Qaeda leadership surrounding Zarqawi aren't martyring themselves, they have underlings who are brought in for that purpose.

My point, though, is that under Saddam we still had mass murder, head-chopping, throat cutting, dismembering, but the people doing it wore uniforms.

In most cases they shot video of their crimes, just like they do now, and the libraries of these videos are in custody. Its not newsworthy, though.

But the crimes took place in the basements of government buildings, rather than in the basements of private homes or abandoned buildings as now.

Instead of cutting off the heads of charity workers and construction workers, they were cutting off the heads of dissidents in front of their families to make a point. Or mowing down entire villages to make a point. Or during a vice campaign, cutting the throats of prostitutes in the middle of a street to make a point. Or dismembering a girl who wasn't enthusiastic enough when she was propositioned by Uday, for a laugh.

That was my point. There are graves all over Iraq with headless bodies in them, who were put there by men in uniform. Those guys are still out there, and they are planning to shoot their way back into power. When they do, they will still be chopping heads and cutting throats, but they will be back in uniform.

Good post. Thank you.

I put a big part of the blame on the Turks: they did not let us to come from the North and kill enough of the opposition in the Sunni triangle.

I do too.

I think it was a blessing that they did not enter the war with us. The price they demanded was too high, they wanted to occupy the north, and in return they only offered to occupy the north. What a bargain. We wanted them to help us with the march on Baghdad, but they weren't interested in actual combat.

So I'm glad they stayed out of it. But at the very least they could have let us pass our troops through to the northern border, and we would have had an additional front passing through the Sunni triangle. You are right, many of the people vexing us now would have been dealt with then.

Very well stated! As usual, if I may add. :^)

Many in the liberal west have indeed a confusion about enemies without a uniform. Some kind of a uniform fetish. They think that an absence of uniform shields the person from being called an enemy. Silly, like the most of the argument from the Left lately.

You well described the human element of a rogue regime: its not just the state itself conducting atrocities - the people do it. I see only 3 options: they are killed, they give up, they win. I accept any heated argument about the smartest ways to accomplish the first two options. Our "friends" on the Left are hard at work trying to make us to give up, so our enemies can win.

BTW, see another good article by VDH here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1448336/posts