What too many Americans fail to realize is that the war in IRaq is really a battle ina greater war against Islam. Upon the outcome of this greater war lies everything western civilization has so dearly achieved over many centuries.
Too many Americans don't realize it, and almost zero pantywaste politicians realize it. How can we win this greater war (not just Iraq) if we're afraid of defining the enemy?
I understand it. I have written about the true nature of the struggle we're in numerous times in this forum.
But I've come to the conclusion that there is nothing more we can do to achieve "victory" in Iraq, for what it's worth.
We toppled Saddam and got rid of his henchmen. We overthrew the Iraqi military. We made certain their were no weapons of mass destruction hidden in the country. We pacified at least _most_ of the country. We have worked to reconstruct infrastructure that was destroyed in the war. And we laid the foundations for "free" elections, and [in what seemed to be a triumphant moment at the time] gave the Iraqis a democratically-elected government.
So what was one of the first things they did?
They wrote into their constitution that _Islam_ would be the state religion.
When I saw that, I realized that our efforts were doomed to go down the drain.
The closest analogy I could make is permitting the Germans to freely re-elect the Nazis to power after their defeat in World War II.
We have not "brought democracy to Iraq". If we were to have done that, one of the bedrock principles of a budding democracy would have been "freedom of religion" - NOT Islam as the "official" religion.
If we were to have brought democracy to Iraq as we did to Japan following the Second World War, it is we, and not they, who would have written a constitution for them that adheres to the precepts of western democracy and freedom. We HAVE NOT (shouting intentional) done so, when we have permitted Islam to be retained as the state religion.
Years back, Arlo Guthrie said halfway into Alice's Restaurant, "This is a song about Alice, remember?"
And like ZULU writes above, "the war in Iraq is really a battle in a greater war against Islam".
Fair enough, Mr. ZULU is telling it like it is, and I'm in complete agreement with him. I sense that many readers of this posting share similar viewpoints.
But if the war in Iraq _is_ but a battle in a greater war with Islam, why in tarnation did we permit it to remain an intolerant Islamic state? This is "victory"? What might BE "victory"?
To paraphrase Arlo, "this is a war about Islam, remember"?
- John
Exactly so!
TRUE TRUE TRUE!!!
Fight Islam over there. or fight it over here!
Until many American's wake up and realize what Iraq is part of, every conflaguration up to that point will be an uphill slog. Many American's don't have the courage, faith and conviction to look terrorism in the face and erradicate the scourage that is terrorism, off the face of the earth. We're not engaged in a Global War On Islam, we're engaged in a Global War On Terror. That's where the "Axis Of Evil" is significant.