Finger up or thumbs down

Where do you stand?

by Heidi Parent
02/16/05

Something remarkable took place on January 30, 2005. In spite of terrorists and insurgents, in spite of car bombs and beheadings, in spite of threats against their families and loved ones, heck even in spite of American Liberals, millions of Iraqis voted to set up their new government. Now if you agree that this is a pretty remarkable event, you're probably part of the Finger Up Crowd.

This is the crowd that was moved beyond words at the sight of Iraqis proudly holding up their purple stained index finger (proof they had voted) almost in an act of defiance toward the insurgents. And there is perhaps no image more indelible than that of Safia Taleb al-Suhail proudly holding up her purple finger for all to see at the State of the Union Address. Some Finger Up Crowd members of Congress showed their solidarity with Iraqi voters by dipping their index fingers in purple ink. (As an aside, I found it humorous to hear the Liberal talking heads criticize these Congressmen for doing such a ridiculous thing. Imagine, Liberals criticizing symbolism. Maybe the Congressmen's mistake was not opting for purple ribbons.)

But not everyone was impressed by this act of courage. Exhibit A: The Thumbs Down Crowd. They're the crowd that predicted that the elections could never take place because no one would vote. When President Bush insisted on holding them anyway, this crowd did their best to harm the process.

In a speech given three days before the election, Thumbs Down Crowd leader Ted Kennedy said, "Our military and the insurgents are fighting for the same thing - the hearts and minds of the people. And that is a battle we are not winning." Now let's put aside for the moment the fact that the insurgents are not battling to control anyone's heart or mind. This isn't a debate club. It's not Republican vs. Democrat, Conservative vs. Liberal. They aren't arguing an alternative ideology. They are using children with Down Syndrome as suicide bombers. This is good vs. evil - free man vs. savage.

And despite what Kennedy chooses to believe, things are not quite as bad as he claims. Take the story about al-Mudhiryah, a small village south of Baghdad. After the election, insurgents who tried to attack the villagers for voting got a big surprise instead. The villagers fought back, killing five insurgents and wounding eight others. Their tribal sheik said the people were tired of being threatened by Islamic extremists. Are you really sure we're not winning, Ted?

But even successful elections won't change the Thumbs Down Crowd's tune. In fact, they did their best to shrug off the results as no big deal. John Kerry said, "It's hard to say that something is legitimate when a whole portion of the country can't and doesn't vote." Has he forgotten that whole portions of our country don't vote either? And they don't have car bombs and beheadings to deter them. Kerry went on to warn, "No one in the United States should try to overhype this election." Yeah, there's no reason to hype a success. It's not like hyping it could lead to, oh I don't know, even more successes! (But you'd better believe that had the election gone badly, Kerry and his crowd would be overhyping at Super Bowl level proportions.)

Kennedy and Kerry's quotes are just further proof of how the pessimistic Left continues to move the goal posts when it comes to Iraq. First they told us how our troops would be over matched by the battle hardened Iraqi forces. After we beat them pretty easily, it became, well that was the regular forces. Wait until we face Saddam's elite Republican Guard. They too were no match. Then we heard, well the people won't be happy that Saddam is gone. When Iraqis were seen cheering the toppling of Saddam statutes we heard how they reflected just a small percentage. Then Joe Biden and others warned of civil war if the White House stuck to its June 30, 2004, deadline to turn over sovereignty. Didn't happen. The naysaying continued right up to the election where we heard that no one would vote because of the threat of violence. They did, in rather large numbers (early estimates place it at a higher percentage than the last U.S. election). Their answer to that is, well that was just an election; it's setting up the actual government that will be difficult. (As if everything up to now has been easy.)

The Left has been wrong so often - including their predictions for Afghanistan - it's laughable. And as we inch closer and closer to victory, look for them to further lose their mind and continue their Yeah But strategy. After all, they are not known for recognizing when they're wrong and regrouping with a different position. Their message may change, but the position remains the same. And as far as they are concerned, the war is wrong and will always be wrong. No amount of "right" will change that because they refuse to recognize - or better yet, admit - victories when they see them. In fact, the sad truth is: nothing will constitute a victory in their eyes.

Now in no way am I suggesting that victory in Iraq is at hand, but we are taking major steps in the right direction. And this fact is driving the anti-war crowd nuts. Which is why they flipped out at the sight of Safia Taleb al-Suhail hugging Janet Norwood (the mother of Marine Sergeant Byron Norwood, who was killed in Iraq) at the State of the Union address. That hug captured what we're doing and why we're there better than words ever could.

But the moment also contained some sweet irony. Unlike most positive Iraq War events, the mainstream media had no choice but to broadcast this one. As a result, the Left's claim that the Iraqis are ungrateful and don't want us there took a huge hit. And that's something they can't afford to let happen if they are going to continue their War-What-Is-It-Good-For mantra. Because of that hug, millions of Americans got to witness just what it is war is good for.