That is where America is right now. Influenced by relentless mainstream media propaganda proclaiming that we are losing the war in Iraq, the American people have looked at the chaos there and decided that they've had enough of it. But most of those people have not looked forward to concentrate on what will happen—and how much worse things will get—if we declare defeat in Iraq and go home.
Now that Congressional Democrats are passing their legislation forcing such a defeat, the people will now have to think about that future.
Today's papers offer a few small previews. In the New York Sun Eli Lake reports on what he describes as the Iranian Express Card, a special passport issued by Iran's secret police to give terrorists special access to cross the Iranian border with Iraq. Expect more Iranian stooges to enter Iraq to fill the power vacuum when we leave.
Meanwhile, the chief advocate of appeasement within the administration, Condoleezza Rice, authors an op-ed in London's Telegraph attempting to rally European support for an American-backed missile defense system by pointing to the Iranian threat.
This is an admission that she has already given up blocking the Iranians from getting the bomb, and her strategy now is to build a defense system to protect Europe and the US from Iranian missiles. That's not too comforting when you consider that Iran has a long and successful history of delivering bombs through mechanisms other than ICBMs.
Finally, the article below sketches out some of the likely outcomes in Iraq after an American withdrawal, the chief consequence being that al-Qaeda will declare victory and send its emboldened minions to achieve similar victories throughout the Middle East.
The Democrats have succeeded, so far, in part by getting people to focus on the past—but taking no thought for the future or for what will happen after we withdraw from Iraq.
"A Rose-Colored Exit Strategy," Peter R. Neumann, Foreign Policy, April 2007 The best-case scenario rests on the assumption that the Sunni insurgency will fragment and collapse once the external enemy—the United States—has been removed…. Sounds too good to be true? It probably is.
First, no matter what happens inside Iraq, any US decision to withdraw will be celebrated as a victory by al Qaeda. Whatever way the spin doctors in Washington dress it up, bin Laden is certain to portray the pullout as another example of what he once described as the “low spiritual morale of the American fighters.” Al Qaeda, in other words, will be emboldened—even if it fails to set up a permanent safe haven or establish an Islamic theocracy. Most worryingly, the foreign fighters—now experienced and battle-hardened veterans of the “global jihad”—will soon turn up and cause trouble in other places, such as Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Afghanistan.
Even more questionable than hoping that al Qaeda’s victory can be spun away is the idea that the Sunnis can be pushed to the negotiation table…. If anything, being seen by their community as the “last line of defense” against Shiite atrocities will make it easier for the insurgents to overcome their internal divisions…. As a result, efforts to prepare for all-out civil war will be spurred, with recruitment, fundraising, and weapons stockpiling all to be stepped up. Indeed, the insurgents are likely to turn to their Sunni neighbors—Jordan, Syria, and Saudi Arabia—for assistance. The Shiites, in turn, may respond not by holding out the hand of friendship but by accelerating their own preparations for the big confrontation….
US political leaders should understand that the game is not over once a withdrawal date is set.
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