What if Bush has been right about Iraq all along? (Misunderestimation of the Democra-nator Alert)

Chicago Sun-Times ^ | 2/1/2005 | Mark Brown

[Rutles4Ever]

Maybe you're like me and have opposed the Iraq war since before the shooting started -- not to the point of joining any peace protests, but at least letting people know where you stood.

You didn't change your mind when our troops swept quickly into Baghdad or when you saw the rabble that celebrated the toppling of the Saddam Hussein statue, figuring that little had been accomplished and that the tough job still lay ahead.

Despite your misgivings, you didn't demand the troops be brought home immediately afterward, believing the United States must at least try to finish what it started to avoid even greater bloodshed. And while you cheered Saddam's capture, you couldn't help but thinking I-told-you-so in the months that followed as the violence continued to spread and the death toll mounted.

By now, you might have even voted against George Bush -- a second time -- to register your disapproval.

But after watching Sunday's election in Iraq and seeing the first clear sign that freedom really may mean something to the Iraqi people, you have to be asking yourself: What if it turns out Bush was right, and we were wrong?

It's hard to swallow, isn't it?

Americans cross own barrier

If you fit the previously stated profile, I know you're fighting the idea, because I am, too. And if you were with the president from the start, I've already got your blood boiling.

For those who've been in the same boat with me, we don't need to concede the point just yet. There's a long way to go. But I think we have to face the possibility.

I won't say that it had never occurred to me previously, but it's never gone through my mind as strongly as when I watched the television coverage from Iraq that showed long lines of people risking their lives by turning out to vote, honest looks of joy on so many of their faces.

Some CNN guest expert was opining Monday that the Iraqi people crossed a psychological barrier by voting and getting a taste of free choice (setting aside the argument that they only did so under orders from their religious leaders).

I think it's possible that some of the American people will have crossed a psychological barrier as well.

Deciding democracy's worth

On the other side of that barrier is a concept some of us have had a hard time swallowing:

Maybe the United States really can establish a peaceable democratic government in Iraq, and if so, that would be worth something.

Would it be worth all the money we've spent? Certainly.

Would it be worth all the lives that have been lost? That's the more difficult question, and while I reserve judgment on that score until such a day arrives, it seems probable that history would answer yes to that as well.

I don't want to get carried away in the moment.

Going to war still sent so many terrible messages to the world.

Most of the obstacles to success in Iraq are all still there, the ones that have always led me to believe that we would eventually be forced to leave the country with our tail tucked between our legs. (I've maintained from the start that if you were impressed by the demonstrations in the streets of Baghdad when we arrived, wait until you see how they celebrate our departure, no matter the circumstances.)

In and of itself, the voting did nothing to end the violence. The forces trying to regain the power they have lost -- and the outside elements supporting them -- will be no less determined to disrupt our efforts and to drive us out.

Somebody still has to find a way to bring the Sunnis into the political process before the next round of elections at year's end. The Iraqi government still must develop the capacity to protect its people.

And there seems every possibility that this could yet end in civil war the day we leave or with Iraq becoming an Islamic state every bit as hostile to our national interests as was Saddam.

Penance could be required

But on Sunday, we caught a glimpse of the flip side. We could finally see signs that a majority of the Iraqi people perceive something to be gained from this brave new world we are forcing on them.

Instead of making the elections a further expression of "Yankee Go Home," their participation gave us hope that all those soldiers haven't died in vain.

Obviously, I'm still curious to see if Bush is willing to allow the Iraqis to install a government that is free to kick us out or to oppose our other foreign policy efforts in the region.

So is the rest of the world.

For now, though, I think we have to cut the president some slack about a timetable for his exit strategy.

If it turns out Bush was right all along, this is going to require some serious penance.

Maybe I'd have to vote Republican in 2008.

[Chi-townChief]

Yeah, it's true but Brown's a liberal of the bleeding-heart type rather than rabid snarling foaming-at-the-mouth variety.

[PigRigger]

CIB -

Nicely stated.

I too have always felt that Iraq presented so much more than the prospect of WMD's. They were only the open door we were looking for.

Although the current administration has stated its heartfelt belief that democracy can be waged in a Arab state, I'm not all that sure they really believed that.

Iraq, with its abundance of natural resources and educated peoples, is the greatest laboratory one could wish for if one wanted to test the theory of Arab democracy. If it can't be had their, well, than it would less likely in a poorer Arab land. We are there to see if it is possible, to see if a greater and wider war is avoidable.

If and when Iraq succeeds, it will be a light to all other Arabs; they will start to ask why them and not us?

Iraq also sits at the crossroads of the Middle East. A successful venture in Iraq will pretty much isolate Iran and Syria. It will become a natural and political deterrent and alternative to those nations it shares a border with.

Iraq was the only choice in a land filled with murders and despots.

Yes, the winds of change are moving across the middle east. For once those winds carry a refreshing tinge of relief. We are living through a historical paradigm; one which future generation's will look back on for centuries to come.

[Rutles4Ever]

Ha! Linked by Drudge now...

[Sicon]

"If this takes hold and sweeps the middle east it will destroy my whole argument against him. I think my head will explode."

We can only hope that Jon Stewart's, and all the other imbecilic leftists/liberals heads do indeed explode - figuratively, of course. But then, if brains were dynamite, the average lib wouldn't be able to make enough of a blast to blow their nose.

[Sicon]

"Would it be worth all the lives that have been lost? "

What a moron. Was victory in WWII worth all the lives lost? I guess this idiot can't see that the mission in Iraq is very much the same as the mission in Europe and the Pacific in WWII: the preservation of existing freedom/democracy, and the liberation of oppressed people.

[Veto!]

We could finally see signs that a majority of the Iraqi people perceive something to be gained from this brave new world we are forcing on them.

Forcing? Brave new world? How about allowing them their inherent God-given right to be free.

[rabidralph]

Yes, she said that. It was mentioned during all the profiles in all the MSM when the new Bush administration was being formed.

[Wolfstar]

I would look this ass right in the eye and say "F**k you!

Bravo! My attitude precisely. I don't give a rat's butt about the angst of the Left over how to reconcile the beauty of what we saw on Sunday with their own cowardice since 9/11/01.

[MaeWest]

Why is it that so many liberals just cant believe something until they see it on TV?

They aren't visionaries. Contrary to their delusions of superiority they are slow to figure things out; everything has to be spelled out for them in graphic detail.

[Paulus Invictus]

Mark, start your penance! I suggest you read pres. Bush's latest speech given at his 2nd Inauguration until you have it committed to your poor memory. Perhaps a daily dose of self-flagelation might help you memorize it.

[An Old Marine]

I wonder if he will maintain his position, or if the nutcases will flood him with e-mails, intimidating him back into the fold.

If he's a died in the wool liberal as soon as he's branded a heretic and the crowds show up to burn him he'll prostrate himself and beg mercy.

[An Old Marine]

"F-U pal and the horse you rode in on."

Good for you. Puts me in mind of all the liberals claiming that the Soviets weren't all that bad. The mobs used to march endlessly supporting the poor commie protectors of the people. I used to wonder how the hell the handful of us that seemed to see them for what they were held them back.

Now that we thumped the commies it amazing how many of the "pinkos" will tell you how they knew it would work out all along.

[Maceman]

I would look this ass right in the eye and say "F**k you!

I would say: "Welcome to the light. Go forth and vote Republican and sin no more. "

[TheForceOfOne]

The boat left shore a long time ago, waving in support from the boat dock is too little too late.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Excellent!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Just for the record:

*********************************************************

Unholy Alliance
by David Horowitz
Regnery Publishing, Inc.; ISBN: 089526076X
Hardcover - 256 pages (September 2004)

In this tour de force on the most important issue of our time, David Horowitz, confronts the paradox of how so many Americans, including the leadership of the Democratic Party, could turn against the War on Terror. He finds an answer in a political Left that shares a view of America as the “Great Satan” with America’s radical Islamic enemies. This Left, which once made common cause with Communists, has now joined forces with radical Islam in attacking America’s defenses at home and its policies abroad. From their positions of influence in the university and media culture, leftists have defined America as the “root cause” of the attacks against it. In a remarkable exploration of the “Mind of the Left,” Horowitz traces the evolution of American radicalism from its Communist past to its “anti-war” present. He then shows how this Left was able to turn the Democratic Party presidential campaign around and reshape its views on the War on Terror.

Horowitz’s Unholy Alliance, writes John Haynes, the noted historian of American Communism, “is an insightful, brilliant examination of the mental world of the radical left. Horowitz shows how today’s radicals, unwilling to reflect on the internal flaws that destroyed Marxism-Leninism from within, have embraced an all-consuming nihilism in its place. This has led them to a hatred of American institutions and a solidarity with Islamic terrorists that makes the radical left more properly regarded as dangerous than loony.”

Unholy Alliance is an eye-opening book that should unsettle conventional assumptions and reveals why intellectuals and political leaders who applaud Michael Moore are no laughing matter. As Harvey Klehr, author of Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America, writes, “The world Communist movement may be moribund, but its habits of mind and ideological fantasies have not disappeared. This is a fascinating and depressing account.”

Price: $19.01 - Click here to order:

[paul51]

.....If you fit the previously stated profile..... You are a lazy mindless leftist propaganda stuffed rind headed imbecile who is unworthy of being called an American

Yeah and now the new profile is let's just sit on the fence a little more quietly and see the final outcome before we decide if freedom and our long term security is worth fighting for. What a bunch of losers. There are always those willing to sit on their ass and gripe while others make the sacrifices and do the heavy lifting.

[GOPJ]

bump

[GOPJ]

Sounds like a great message to me:

The message we sent is that corrupt dictators cannot thumb their noses at the Civilized World and support terrorists, and that there will be consequences to lawless behaviour. Why is this a terrible message to send?

[P.O.E.]

Cost of invading Iraq?

87 billion.

Fending off home-grown personal attacks from the left?

Whatever was spent on the campaign of 2004.


Two bases from which democracy can flourish in the region (Afghanistan & Iraq)?

Priceless.