Still Worth It

On the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war, an assorted congeries of anarchists, pacifists, socialists and old-fashioned liberals are taking to the streets en mass to denounce what they see as our generation's most egregious foreign policy decision: the war in Iraq. Taking advantage of the freedom to demonstrate publicly, a freedom that was for decades denied in an absolute sense to the people of Iraq under the Hussein regime, these foolhardy booboisie seem impervious to shame or to the pangs of irony and hypocrisy. They are an embarrassment to honest Americans who maintained a principled opposition to the war rooted in serious debate, not the talking-points of the radical leftists. Considerate of the sensibilities of the readers here, I won't stain this blog with images of these obscene marches, so I thought I'd post some links to a couple thoughtful articles that argue (as I always have) that Operation Iraqi Freedom was, and still is, worth the high cost.

No Surrender
By FOUAD AJAMI

In Iraq, America was surrounded by enemies who were sure from the start that the great foreign power was destined to fail. They could not be given the satisfaction of a hasty American retreat. The stakes had grown: We were under the gaze of populations with a keen eye for the weakness of strangers. It was apt and proper that the leader who launched this war did not give up on it.

Speaking in Nashville, Tenn., to the convention of National Religious Broadcasters on March 11, President Bush defended, yet again, the war in Iraq: "The decision to remove Saddam Hussein was the right decision early in my presidency; it is the right decision at this point in my presidency; and it will forever be the right decision."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120588186774146747.html?mod=opinion_main_commentaries

Iraq War Veterans Say U.S. Needs to Keep on Fighting Insurgents

Workman (an American soldier) fought house to house there (Fallujah) in 2004 and when he left the city, it was in ruins. "I gotta be honest," he said. "I thought that the city is in shambles and I don't know if the people are ever going to get back on their feet." Then he described the scene when he went back to the town in 2007: shops open, weddings being held and people walking the streets without fear. Don't ask Workman if he thinks the war can be won. "That's the dumbest question anyone can ask," he said. "Hell, yeah, we can win."

-Emphasis added

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/ss/local/80107.php

Fickle Americans, living in comfort thousands of miles away, could learn a great deal about resolve from Workman's refreshing retort.