Shortly before the 1864 election, a prescient Chicago Tribune editorial endorsing President Lincoln observed that “For a hundreds years to come, historians will be engaged in placing in their true light the events which are now transpiring.” The Tribune editorialist was certain the issue at hand was nothing less than “the regeneration of the Republic and the vindication of true democracy.”
Today, many shortsighted office holders and opinion molders certainly do not understand what is at stake for America in Iraq or that victory there is as important to this nation’s future as the Irrepressible Conflict was to our ancestors.
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Like Lincoln, who faced politicians in both parties demanding peace even at the price of permanently splitting the Union, President Bush now must contend with Democrats and Republicans who for whatever reason lack the will to remain firm in Iraq. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, for example, unilaterally announced that the “war is lost” before most of the additional troops involved in the surge Bush authorized earlier this year had even arrived in Iraq.
Since then, more U.S. troops on the ground inevitably has meant more casualties, but only the willfully blind cannot see that the surge is making a huge and positive difference in our favor. D-Day also meant more casualties, but in the end it ensured freedom. That is why we cannot be swayed now from the task before us in Iraq.
To do anything less will ensure consequences more horrific than anything yet seen in that deeply wounded country. Shia and Sunni will shed each other’s blood with abandon. Turks and Kurds will struggle to the death, and al Qaeda will plant roots possibly lasting for centuries.
The effects on the region will be just as dire. Iraq will become the staging area for wave after wave of jihadist terrorism against Western Europe and the United States. Iran, with its nuclear ambitions, will likely emerge as the region’s dominant power, endangering the very existence of Israel.
Worse still will be the consequences for us here at home if the voices of withdrawal are heeded. Bin Laden, Ahmadinejad and the rest of the bloodthirsty servants of jihad have made their aim to destroy America at least as clear as Hitler made his aims in “Mein Kampf.” Why do the Neville Chamberlains always among us never learn the lesson that appeasement of a totalitarian monster is, as President Reagan said of the Soviets, simply bribing the alligator to eat you last.
Like many others, we have been harshly critical of Bush many times on other concerns. He may well be the loneliest man in Washington. But he is right on Iraq, and he deserves America’s support.
