Posted on 03/17/2007 8:33:28 PM PDT by Valin
The chattering class nostrum that Free Iraq and its coalition allies have "lost the Iraq war" is so blatantly wrong it would be a source of laughter were human life and hope-inspiring liberty not at such terrible risk.
In terms of fundamental historical changes favoring 21st century freedom and peace, what Free Iraq and its Coalition allies have accomplished in four short years is nothing short of astonishing.
Consider what Iraq was, not simply in A.D. March 2003, but in 2003 B.C. Both historical frames provide instructive lessons in the obvious.
Iraq, as ancient Mesopotamia (the land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers), seeded Abraham's Ur and Hammurabi's Babylon. The region was the Eden of city-states, the consolidator and exporter of the Agricultural Revolution. It is also the center of a predominantly Muslim region where -- to paraphrase historian Bernard Lewis -- something "went wrong." Lewis was addressing the "fossilization" that began to afflict the Middle East at least six centuries ago, a cultural, intellectual and, yes, political ossification and decline.
The decline did two things that directly affect the War on Terror (which Rudy Giuliani more correctly calls The Terrorists' War Against Us). The decline undermined Islamist utopian notions of theological supremacy. That millennialist disappointment seeds the long list of "grievances" infesting al-Qaida's propaganda.
The far greater consequence (and truly grievous wrong) was arresting Middle Eastern populations. Arrest is the right word. The Middle East was trapped in the terrible yin-yang of tyrant and terrorist, the choice of one or the other -- which is no choice, for both mean oppression and death.
In November 2001, I wrote that we -- the United States specifically, but the civilized world as a whole -- are in a "fight for the future" with terrorists and tyrants. Iraq (Mesopotamia) has been and continues to be an influential if not critical stretch of geography.
In January 2003, I argued that toppling Saddam's tyranny in Iraq would do two things: begin the process of fostering political choice (democracy) in the Middle East and bring al-Qaida onto a battlefield not of its choosing. Moreover, that battlefield would be largely manned by Muslim allies, exposing the great fractures within Islam and the Middle East that al-Qaida's strategists tried to mask by portraying America as "the enemy."
Credit the Iraqi people with taking the opportunity by conducting three honest, open, democratic elections. In May 2006, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki formed a democratically elected, consensus-seeking government not simply in Mesopotamia but in the heart of the politically dysfunctional Middle East.
That's an astonishing achievement.
Al-Qaida's now-deceased emir in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, understood the stakes. In a message to al-Qaida (intercepted by the Coalition in February 2004), Zarqawi wrote that after Iraqis run their own government, U.S. troops will remain, "but the sons of this land will be the authority. ... This is the democracy. We will have no pretexts." Iraq's new army and police will link with the people "by lineage, blood and appearance."
The terrorists and tyrants understand. It's a shame America's chatterers don't.
Unable to defeat coalition soldiers or dim liberty's appeal, Zarqawi and his terror clique chose Iraqi civilians as their target. They concluded that an Islamic sectarian war between Shia and Sunni was the only way al-Qaida would avoid defeat. That might entail temporarily placing a secular Saddam-type tyrant in power -- hence the short-term cooperation with thugs from the former regime. Al-Qaida and the Saddamists bet their bombs would break the Iraqi people. That has not happened. They know their resiliency is a stinging rebuke of terror and tyranny.
Targeting the vulnerable is the same tactic the Ku Klux Klan used to enforce segregation in America's South. The Klan burned African-American churches instead of mosques, but the Klan, al-Qaida and Saddamist fascists target a population with similar technique and tyrannical viciousness.
Most of us are glad the FBI didn't pull out of Mississippi and Alabama in 1963. The analogy isn't direct -- Baghdad isn't Birmingham. However, the goal of ending the oppressive destruction of lives is both comparable and noble.
The Iraqi people are earning their victory and their liberty. The price for both is inevitably paid in blood, sweat and toil. At this point in history, they need American patience.
Considering the millions of people who were starved in Western Europe (mostly in the Soviet zone of Occupation) after World War II, the Iraq experience has been professional, and successful.
Security Plan Working as Violence Drops in Northwest Baghdad
By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, March 16, 2007 – Moving coalition forces out of big forward operating bases and into smaller community-based combat outposts as part of the Baghdad Security Plan has reduced violence and helped to stabilize northwestern Baghdad, a senior Army officer serving there said today.
Murders are down by more than half since January in the densely populated 93-square-kilometer area controlled by the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, said its commander, Army Col. J.B. Burton.
His troops have found only 10 planted improvised explosive devices this month. That’s down from 36 in January, when 89 IEDs were detonated. So far this month, there have been only 21 IED detonations, Burton reported.
About 1 million people live in the area patrolled by Burton’s troops. It is principally Shiia-occupied in the northeast, Sunni in the west and southwest, and mixed in the southeast. Sectarian fault lines define the areas, and both Sunni and Shiia extremists fight for control over portions of the city and its citizens, Burton said.
Extremists have used tactics ranging from car bombs to illegal militia control over access to gas stations and food distribution programs to execution-style murders by death squads, Burton said. Such murders are down from 141 in January to 63 in February to only 16 so far in March, he said. But the area has seen an increase in car bombs targeting Shiia gathering places, Burton said, mostly by Sunni extremists.
Burton said he believes this decline is directly attributable to his soldiers living in the neighborhoods and working side by side with the Iraqi security forces.
Originally, the combat outposts were designed solely to create and keep a troop presence in the community. However, they have transformed into combined command posts, or joint security stations, with coalition forces working in cooperation with Iraqi forces. This allows for better and faster information sharing and easier operations planning, Burton said.
“Every day I go out and visit these joint security stations, I see better interoperability, increased command and control processes and increased sharing of information,” Burton said. “What we started out with as a means to get coalition forces out into the battlefield has grown into a very promising effort to execute combined operations across western Baghdad.”
But, while violence has decreased since implementing the Baghdad Security Plan, Burton was quick to add that it is still too soon to say how long the downturn will last.
“Make no mistake, we are not proclaiming victory yet. There's a lot of tough work ahead, but we are very optimistic,” Burton said.
Meanwhile, the lull in violence is giving local governments time to form and operate. Burton said it’s also boosting the confidence local Iraqi forces, which he called a “fundamental necessity for improving the quality of life for Iraqis in Baghdad is security.”
Within the next month, a provincial reconstruction team will embed itself in the area. The team will work with the local governments to begin improving essential services and infrastructure, Burton said.
Already, his own reconstruction team has been working in the area to increase employment opportunities, which Burton said is a key element of decreasing acts of violence. In Shula and Kadhimiya, his team has worked with local government leaders and the district advisory councils to create municipal jobs and help open small business.
“These are all positive signs, that we see the employment opportunities decreasing the violence, specifically in the Shula and Kadhimiya areas,” Burton said. “We hope to export similar programs throughout the rest of the area of responsibility.”
Pray for W and Our Freedom Fighters
BTTT
Not to mention it took how long before women were able to vote in federal elections?
good read.
Iraqis to Ms. Pelosi,
Madam Speaker, Please don't allow us to die a brutal death at the hands of terrorists when you pull the troops out of here. Our lifes are improving. The terror attacks are abating. You are a grandmother and can surly understand that we just want to live in peace for our childrens sake. Please listen to the cries of the people of Iraq. Doesn't it seem cruel to your liberal mind that we have been oppressed for so long by a tyrant and that no sooner do we get a taste of freedom, for which we overwhelmingly showed the world we desired by voting, and by spilling our own blood. With God's blessing and the help of the U.S. military we can be successful, we can have a democracy, we can live in peace. Would you deny us that? Would you act like some spoiled child on the basketball court who gets mad at his team mates because he fears his team is losing so instead of trying harder to win he says "I'm taking my ball and going home", would you set that standard? How cruel that would be if you succeeded in redeploying your military. Pulling that military help away from our land and allowing terror to take control tearing this country apart and plunging it into a regional civil war that may not end for years to come. You will have to take responsibility for the conduct of your actions in that regard so please show us some of the liberal compassion we hear about are you not humanists are you not human?
Signed,
Concerned Iraqis
BUMP
But don't you understand the George Bush stole the election in 2000? If 100-200 thousand Iraqis have to die in order for us to get back at George Bush..well you can't make an omlet without breaking a few eggs.
Nancy Pelosi
It was that damn butterfly ballot!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.