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CR Composition Corner: Must Win in Iraq
By punch bowl | September 19, 2007
In this edition of CR Composition Corner, Tim Taylor, Chair of the BYU College Republicans, writes as to why we must win the War in Iraq. The article was first published in the BYU NewsNet.
“On both moral and practical grounds it would be extraordinarily destructive for the American Congress to impose surrender and defeat on the United States by legislation which the enemy has been unable to impose by combat.” This is former Speaker Newt Gingrich’s assessment of the Iraq war debate, and I must agree. Failure in Iraq is unacceptable - and yes, no matter how the Democrats may portray it, our enemies would see withdrawal as failure, become emboldened by it and twist Iraq into a stronghold of terror. At this desperate point, then, we must discuss how to win in Iraq. Seriously, soberly, and apolitically.
To wit, President Bush’s recent speech last Thursday was apolitical. He simply endorsed the findings and recommendations of General David Petraeus, commander of coalition forces in Iraq. Petraeus holds a non-political post and has no agenda other than success in Iraq. Opinion polls show he is the person most trusted to give accurate information about Iraq. An even stronger endorsement comes from my former colleague at the American Enterprise Institute, Frederick Kagan, who wrote of Petraeus’s and Ambassador Ryan Crocker’s recent testimony before Congress, “They understand Iraq in all its complexity. … Last week, they were able, despite the comparative shallowness and guile of their questioners, to explain the choices we face with clarity and honesty.”
It was this source, then, that served as the foundation of President Bush’s speech. The facts that exist in his speech are the facts that exist on the ground - reported not by the armchair generals of Congress, but by the most capable and knowledgeable men in Iraq. Their expertise underpinned every central fact that the president’s highlighted: first, that the surge is working; second, that Iraq is moving toward a political solution; and third, that the war can end successfully.
Fact one: the surge is working. Said the New York Times’ Chief reporter in Iraq, John Burns, “There is no doubt al-Qaida has taken a beating.” Violence is down across the country and especially in the former terrorist breeding ground of Anbar province. The importance of this success cannot be understated. Most remarkably, as Anbar’s population has turned against al-Qaida, it has shown the terrorists that they can be repudiated in their own backyard. As Tom Friedman wrote, “When I asked one of them, Omar Nassif, 32, why he had gone from shooting at Americans to working with them, he said, ‘I saw an al-Qaida man behead an 8-year-old girl with my own eyes. … We want American support because we fought the most vicious organization in the world here.’” We cannot disregard the surge’s success because of “a lack of a political solution,” nor can we abandon our friends in Anbar and across Iraq.
Fact two: Iraq is moving toward a political solution. True, the Iraqi parliament has not met its benchmarks. But the goals of those benchmarks are being met by other means. Oil revenues are being shared despite parliament, for example. And a reduction in U.S. forces will not spur further reconciliation. We have learned nothing from the last four years if we believe that simply encouraging Iraqis to negotiate will work, especially if we do so while withdrawing our shield of security from their people.
Fact three: the war can end successfully, and it must for our own safety. I recently spoke with a friend of mine, Caleb Blackburn, who spent 18 months patrolling Ramadi. When I asked him about why we are fighting in Iraq, he answered clearly: “It’s really, really clear why all this is happening … why we’re all over there. To protect the United States from terrorists.” I believe him. So should the United States Congress. We must not allow it to legislate defeat in a war we can win and must win.
Topics: Uncategorized, Iraq, CR Composition Corner |
