Still the Right Call

…and still not a defeat

It is hard to say which battle has been more relentless over the past three years: the effort by al Qaeda and remnant Baathists to sabotage America’s victory in Iraq, or the effort by the mainstream American media to convince us that it has all been a horrid defeat. Now we are beginning to hear even such conservative stalwarts as William F. Buckley, Jr. and George Will question the wisdom of our continued actions, and begin using the “D” word in calling for a change of course.

The glee that the left takes in our difficulties in Iraq are understandable. They want nothing, and I mean nothing, more than to see George W. Bush’s reputation tarnished and power diminished. It is more worrisome to see some of the most revered voices on the right beginning to wince. If Bill Buckley is worried about Iraq, it’s very hard not to pay attention.

There are many things that haven’t been done especially well in the War on Terror (there always are in a war - any war). But an objective review of what has happened these past 4+ years reminds us that we have done exactly the right thing, we have achieved remarkable victories, and we should keep right on doing what we are doing.

Let’s review: The first post 9/11 imperative was to disable al Qaeda’s (and other similar groups’) capabilities to attack and harm the United States. That was done very effectively by first knocking off the Taliban in Afghanistan and then by invading and deposing Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq. Regardless of anything else, these two efforts were remarkably successful and bought at a remarkably low cost in U.S. casualties. Not only did these two military adventures succeed in crippling al Qaeda’s logistical and financial supports, they also served to refocus the terrorists’ attention on Iraq (as opposed to the U.S.), and to send a message to other countries tempted to support terrorism.

Most conservatives would agree with this assessment thus far. Where we tend to lose them is in the neo-Wilsonian optimism of the Bush Administration. The idea that the world can be made safer by converting Islamic dictatorships to thriving democracies just seems to be a whole bunch of feel-good lefty folderol. Kind of the international equivalent of Compassionate Conservatism.

We have now spent three years of hard, hard effort trying to rebuild Iraq as a democracy, in the process hoping to establish it as a precedent for the Muslim world. It hasn’t been easy. Especially as we are bombarded every single day with tales of disaster, death and pessimism from the news media. I can understand why some who see “nation-building” as an exercise in folly would begin to question the cost and effort.

I believe that those who so view the situation suffer from too narrow an imagination. It would indeed be folly to think that one could just waltz into a country, wave a magic wand, and - poof - democracy! Especially when that country is steeped in a religion, a culture, and social structures that are directly contrary to fundamental democratic tenets. If all that were at stake were the nature of the government of Iraq, I would probably be on board with Buckley and Will. But it is much, much bigger than that.

That which we called the Cold War was more than anything else the last, aggressive spasms of some very, very bad political and cultural ideas set loose in the 18th and 19th Centuries. As the 20th Century progressed, these ideas became more and more out of synch with reality. The Cold War was essentially an effort to apply pressure until Communism imploded from its irresolvable contradictions with the Information Age.

The War on Terrorism must be seen, second only to preventing future 9/11s, as a similar pressure on Islam in an effort to allow it to bridge from tribalism to modernity. This must happen. It will happen. No culture can live at such odds with the world-as-it-is for any length of time. The only question is how it will happen, and how much collateral damage will occur as a result. The very things that make fundamentalist Islam stand out as barbaric and horrific are the things that cannot long endure against modernity. By applying direct and steady pressure against it - as we are doing in Iraq - we will significantly hasten the day when that culture collapses. We are creating the kernel that will serve to offer Muslims a second way out of tribalism.

We could probably just back off and say “the heck with ‘em, let them stew in their own juices.” And we could retreat and be Fortress America. But that would result in a whole lot more time, misery and danger before Islamofacsism collapses of its own accord.

History will judge that we are doing the right thing in Iraq. I am grateful that we have a President who does not get squeamish because foes on the left or friends on the right get a little heartburn.

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