NYP: THE IRAQ THEY WON'T TALK ABOUT, Amir Taheri

New York Post ^ | April 23, 2008 | Amir Taheri

[OESY]

Both opponents and supporters of the war in Iraq seem reluctant to raise the issue of what's going on there now as an issue in the presidential race.

Opponents, of course, can't deny that things are better than a year ago - and may fear that this could persuade voters that President Bush was right after all.

After all, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid decided that the war was "lost" a year ago. And critics have sounded the tocsins about the supposedly coming Iraqi civil war for five years. (Some even suggested at times that Iraq was already in civil war.) They've also predicted "the end of Iraq," including its de facto partition into sectarian cantons. Yet Iraq has defied all those predictions.

Perhaps worse for the antiwar crowd, close examination of Iraq's situation today might lend credence to Bush's analysis that the Islamic Republic in Iran has emerged as the chief troublemaker there. That could lead only to one conclusion: the need to act against Tehran.

War supporters share that concern, though for different reasons: They can't seem to build a consensus on dealing with the Iranian threat. Since they also can't be sure the recent easing of the situation in Iraq will last until Election Day, it may seem wisest not to push the issue....

Iraq has bled, but remained unbowed. Iraq has resisted al Qaeda and the Iranian terror machine. Iraqis are learning to build a new society based on pluralism and are discovering the values that, in time, helped develop the Western democracies.

Despite all its sufferings, or perhaps because of them, Iraq has not succumbed to the forces of darkness, partly thanks to continued US support. That good news merits being part of the presidential debate.

[Old Sarge]

War supporters share that concern, though for different reasons: They can't seem to build a consensus on dealing with the Iranian threat.

"Nuke 'em 'til they glow" sounds like a consensus to me...

[SolidWood]

Bomb 'em before nuclear war becomes unavoidable is more like it.

[SuziQ]

Despite all its sufferings, or perhaps because of them, Iraq has not succumbed to the forces of darkness, partly thanks to continued US support. That good news merits being part of the presidential debate.

You won't hear ANYTHING like that in any Democrat presidential debate.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Reid: Declared defeat a year ago

Related thread:

IRAQ: Sadr's in a JAM -- It looks like his militia got routed.

[Marine_Uncle]

Either of Lenin's useful idiots are going to have a hard time in the debates regarding the success story in Iraq.
If McCain is as smart as he claims to be, he will weave all the required things that had to be accomplished the first few years such as scratch building a new Iraqi military and police force, as well as slowly uniting the Iraqi political factions to the point where the last two years have now yielded the hoped final goals. Go easy on GWB, and stress all the recent success.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Ernest.

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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2005849/posts

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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2005873/posts