One More Step Towards Winning the Iraq War

It's pretty inevitable now that we're going to be declare true victory in Iraq, with the Iraqi people being the true winners in the war. Yes, the GOP has been dragging the Democrats toward victory in Iraq, kicking and screaming as it were, and now we've reached another huge milestone in Iraq. Today, the Sunni bloc officially rejoined the new Iraqi government. This is a tremendous development and yet another key sign that the war is drawing to a close. Bringing the Sunnis back in is a huge victory for al Maliki and the Iraqis. As it is clearly obvious to any honest observer, the surge has been tremendously successful.

John McCain, the Republican nominee for president, deserves a great amount of credit for calling for Rumsfeld's ouster after he did not initiate a build up of troops after the amount of violence greatly increased upon our taking of Baghdad. Rumsfeld, though, orchestrated a incredible ground invasion that was lighting quick, however, his dealings with the insurgency were his downfall, as he did not listen to the commanders on the ground. Upon the implementation of the surge we have seen the utter demolition of al Qaeda in Iraq, the build up of the Iraqi security forces, deals on oil contracts and economic policies, a dramatic reduction in violence with lower American and Iraqi casualties, the Mahdi Army's disembowelment, etc. The surge has worked greatly.

The question, then, is where do we go from here? Certainly not to withdrawal and leave Iraq to fall back into chaos. The way leave Iraq victorious is clear. We must continue to train Iraqi security forces in order to become even more capable of defending themselves and provide for the security of the Iraqi people. The American ground forces can be withdrawn as the Iraqi forces are built up. Certainly, Iraq will need our logistical and air support as those networks are built up, but as American casualties continue to fall, the swell in support here at home will continue to draw. As Iraq develops these capabilities, we continue to withdrawal our troops until Iraq is completely self sufficient or until they ask us to leave completely.

Political solutions are entirely left to the Iraqis. We cannot force Iraq to implement laws and rule that we are forcing upon them, this is not our mission, nor should it. The Iraqis have their own unique needs and wants, and we must leave it up to them to decide their own fate. The way to ensure that they do is to provide security in the interim while they choose their policies. This is the mission that we are seeking to complete.

Despite what Obama is currently saying, he completely opposed the surge of forces in Iraq that created the current situation. His current visit to Iraq is a disgusting way to try to score cheap political points. In the years between his first and now current visit, Obama lacked the courage to go to Iraq when things were looking bleak and his own personal security may have been at risk. That utter lack of courage is highlighted even more so when you consider the number of Republicans and Democrats who went to Iraq during the times of extreme violence regardless of their opinions on the war. Obama's lack of leadership and courage are on full display, this is not a man who should be leading our nation.

Finally, I just want to touch on the irony of the situation. The Liberals refused to support Iraq when thing were bleak and made much of the fact that we essentially went into Iraq as the leaders of a small coalition. Fast forward to present day and our path to victory is clear and no longer deniable, even to the most ardent of Liberals and even after some of allies left Iraq. It was under our leadership, our forces, that a conflict that started out so bleak turned the corner. On the other hand, the Afghan conflict, led by NATO, which started out so well and now falters under NATO's lead and internal positioning, is the conflict supported by the Left. They constantly labeled this conflict as "the good conflict," and is now the more dangerous of the two missions. I commend those calling for a similar surge in Afghanistan, but even as they do so, they highlight with even greater emphasis the success Gen. Petraeus and President Bush have secured in Iraq. We can not lose either of these conflicts, and for as great as an importance as it is to America, it is of an even more, exponential importance to the people of Iraq and Afghanistan that we finish the mission and leave these nations with the necessary, domestic security forces, for them to protect themselves.

-Caomhin

Democrats Should Probably Listen to the Iraqis

That's exactly what they accused President Bush of not doing, listening to the commanders on the ground and not having an effective withdrawal strategy. My how the times have changed. Today the Democrats are ignoring the commanders on the ground with the Surge being a strong success in decreasing the amount of attacks in Iraq. They are also ignoring the wishes of the Iraqis are are threatening a disastrous uber fast withdrawal that will lead to genocide. Well, today, the Iraqi Foreign Minister sounded off on why it is vitally important to Iraqis, in terms of security and in terms of reconciliation, why the Democrats cut and run plan would result in complete and utter disaster for the people of Iraq. Here's some choice quotes:

He noted, though, that the Iraqis still managed to establish a government and ratify a constitution after regaining sovereignty in June 2004, and that Iraqis enjoy freedoms that were absent under nearly three decades of Saddam's brutal rule.

"These past five years, I think, were full of hopes and promises but also of tears and blood ... and we've gone through a very, very difficult transformation," Zebari said. "What we the Iraqis have achieved over the last five years since liberation has been remarkable."

.....

He was optimistic that the threats to pull out were empty campaign rhetoric.

"We are in an election season, and many candidates will say things that appeal to the public. But when the real national interests of the United States, of the nation, confront them, I think they have to make hard decisions," Zebari said of the candidates.

"I think now American interests in this part of the world are as important as they were in Germany during the World War so it will not be easy for any administration, Republican or Democrat, just to wash off their hands and walk away," he said. "There is a certain responsibility, an international and moral responsibility, to help the people of Iraq to reach a stable form of governance."

He's completely right of course. In fact, he acknowledges that all sides, including the US, made mistakes but that in order to achieve stability and save the lives of scores, as well as for both nation's foreign policies and national securities, success is vital. He's absolutely right. It's a shame the left can't acknowledge this or even listen to the Iraqi government's wish. Even now, Hillary is out trying to score more cheap leftist points by attacking Blackwater and private contractors who provide the security for the highest level ambassadors and political visitors to Iraq. It's important to note that not a single person under the protection of Blackwater has died while under their guard. The left always neglects that fact and constantly attacks them. The fact is Blackwater has made some mistakes, but really, who hasn't. They have provided security in areas which has allowed the military to shift forces elsewhere, which has had a positive effect as well. The fact is, it is of the utmost importance that we succeed in Iraq, for the interests of this nation and the interests of the Iraqis. It's funny how the media fails to use Japan as the model for what we are trying to do in Iraq, but that's exactly how this should be approached. We owe it to the Iraqis to get them on their own feet, and that takes time. We committed to go to war, and we must be committed to helping rebuild that nation and care for the people of Iraq in the interim.

-Caomhin

Where's the Jubilant MSM and Leftist Celebrations for President Bush's Latest Achievements?

Seriously, they need to throw President Bush a major party. After all, the Left is so quick to call President Bush a war criminal, having an eternal blood lust, just looking for a reason to drop a nuclear bomb on every man woman and child. That of course, is utter nonsense, something the left is prone to, as they are not as rational as, say, your average woodpecker. The decline of nuclear stockpiles should have the left out in the streets in celebration, and President Bush has just announced the reduction of the stockpiles to levels of less than 25% of what they were at the end of the Cold War. Something remarkable, no? While I do not advocate shrinking our stockpile down to nothing, a strong reduction is definitely a good thing. It will allow us to maintain a strong national defense while taking out of commission a large number of weapons we no longer need. We most definitely keep our nuclear arsenal, but we do not need as large a stockpile as we once did. As we are currently seeing, the focus now is on terror prevention and urban combat. Recon missions will be of great focus as well, such as the Filipinos hunting down Abu-Sayyaf in the jungles of the Philippines. We most definitely should take the material from the decommissioned weapons and begin building more nuclear facilities in order to decrease our demand on foreign energy supplies, with clean, effective, and cheap nuclear energy that is even safer due to new technologies that have not been allowed to be implemented since the 70s. Think of the dramatic increase in oil consumption and "carbon" that the left could see if we did this....so why so quiet? Ah, because it's not part of their socialist agenda for us to be leaders in innovation, technology, self-sufficiency in the "global community", and does nothing to line the pockets of Al Gore and his profiteering, fear spreading hoard. Yet, even for the reduction in nuclear weapons, they won't praise President Bush for this bold move.

Secondly, for all the harping the left does about political solutions not coming about in Iraq, maybe they didn't notice this massively important tidbit of information:

Iraq's Shiite-dominated government has agreed to take over support of a U.S.-funded plan that has organized thousands of Iraqis — including former insurgents and their sympathizers — into local security groups.

The move is a long-awaited step toward national reconciliation, said Saad al-Muttalibi, an official at Iraq's Ministry of National Dialogue and Reconciliation.

The Shiites are now assimilating the Sunnis into the national security force. Hmmm....sounds like a political solution to me, the first step along the way to the nation of Iraq coming together and standing up for itself, and all due to the success of the Surge. The same Surge Harry Reid said had already failed before it even started. So how does the Left and Harry Reid meet this news, by completely burying it and trying to, you guessed it, pathetically attempt to move the goalposts once again by suddenly, in lack of any evidence or any logic, saying that al-Qaeda in Iraq is regrouping. Though I'm sure they are regrouping in hell, after being routed to pieces during the Surge, they are not regrouping in Iraq. A few incidents of violence an ol' Harry Reid tries to cover up the most important news to come out of Iraq in sometime. It's no secret the Democrats futures lie in Iraq's demise at the cost of the lives of numerous American and Iraqi lives, just so they can win a few more votes. Utterly pathetic, and traitorous, and yes, sadly transparent.

-Caomhin