"I believe we are fighting to create a tolerant and accountable democracy which will bring peace and justice to a country whose people have been denied both for so long. Ranged against us is a ruthless foe, who knows he must break us in Iraq if he is to succeed. If he does succeed, Iraq will plunge into a new era darkened by oppression and persecution. It will be internally riven and fought for by its neighbours. But more than that: a terrorist victory will feed the monster of Islamic extremism worldwide - opening every city from New York to Berlin and from London to Paris to a rejuvenated terrorist onslaught. The terrorists don’t want to win in Iraq in order to begin a happy retirement. They want to win in Iraq as a stepping stone to America and other free nations around the globe."
Those words come from a recent speech by Iain Duncan Smith. Few people have a keener understanding of the terrorism that will be visited on neighbouring countries by a failed Iraq than the Jews. Israel would be a number one target for a failed Iraq - just as Saddam paid money to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers.
Senator Joe Lieberman (David Davis lookalike?) is one of the few American Democrats that understands what is at stake in Iraq - perhaps because he is Jewish. This is what he wrote in Tuesday's Wall Street Journal:
"It is a war between 27 million and 10,000; 27 million Iraqis who want to live lives of freedom, opportunity and prosperity and roughly 10,000 terrorists who are either Saddam revanchists, Iraqi Islamic extremists or al Qaeda foreign fighters who know their wretched causes will be set back if Iraq becomes free and modern. The terrorists are intent on stopping this by instigating a civil war to produce the chaos that will allow Iraq to replace Afghanistan as the base for their fanatical war-making. We are fighting on the side of the 27 million because the outcome of this war is critically important to the security and freedom of America. If the terrorists win, they will be emboldened to strike us directly again and to further undermine the growing stability and progress in the Middle East, which has long been a major American national and economic security priority."
The Senator fears that the war is being lost in Washington as it is bearing fruit in Iraq:
"While U.S. public opinion polls show serious declines in support for the war and increasing pessimism about how it will end, polls conducted by Iraqis for Iraqi universities show increasing optimism. Two-thirds say they are better off than they were under Saddam, and a resounding 82% are confident their lives in Iraq will be better a year from now than they are today. What a colossal mistake it would be for America's bipartisan political leadership to choose this moment in history to lose its will and, in the famous phrase, to seize defeat from the jaws of the coming victory."
Perhaps if we really knew what the real military situation was in Iraq then people would be able to make a decision as to whether Lieberman is right or not.It does seem to me that we (the general public)have been fed too many lies from our governments to form an accurate opinion as to what the true situation is out there and journalists are understandably reluctant to report from most of Iraq.
My contacts all currently serve in southern sector and are despondent at the lack of progress in training both civil and military Iraqi forces but perhaps things are better in other parts of the country?I hope so.
For those interested in the subject I recommend people read a very moving article in todays Daily Telegraph from Danny Kruger,powerful stuff.
On a lighter note Editor,I don't think David Davis will be talking to you again after you described Joe Lieberman as a DD lookalike!
Posted by: malcolm | December 01, 2005 at 14:03
That was Private Eye's suggestion - not mine, Malcolm!
Posted by: Editor | December 01, 2005 at 15:14
Surely, out of 25 million Iraqis, there are enough brave souls willing to join a new Iraqi army and security to take on the terrorists.
Perhaps if the US left, there would not be 10,000 terrorists - an massive indictment of Bush's legacy. Bush and Cheney are Bin Ladin's recruiting sergeants.
Posted by: Selsdon Man | December 01, 2005 at 18:30
What an isult to David Davis!
Lieberman looks more like John Bird (Rory Bremner's sidekick).
Posted by: Selsdon Man | December 02, 2005 at 14:03
Selsdon, there are indeed many 'brave souls' willing to serve in the Iraqi security forces.The problems however are many.
A significant number of volunteers do not owe their first loyalty to the central government but more often are driven by their brand of faith,tribe or area.Many Iraqi battalions have been infiltrated by those who are hostile to their government/and or the coalition.
The biggest group of volunteers however are not motivated by anything other than money (sometimes quite understandably, employment prospects are not very good in large parts of the country).But it is a sad fact that mercenary armies are rarely effective.
We have been trying to train these people for two years,(far longer than the training period of a British soldier).I really wonder if these people are unable to fight the insurgency alone now whether they ever will.
Time (and I expect the US midterm elections) will tell.
Posted by: malcolm | December 02, 2005 at 15:19
Those are very fair points, Malcolm. They are, however, an indictment of the way the war and the period after it have been handled by the occupying forces. Your assessment naturally leads to the question as whether Iraq can survive as a democracy without a peace-keeping force. If so, who?
Posted by: Selsdon Man | December 04, 2005 at 19:01
The Iranians invented the game of chess and they have just called checkmate!
Come back Saddam all is forgiven.
Despite repeated warnings from German, French and Russian intelligence - the CIA, MI6 and Mossad under political pressure continued to help build a case for getting rid of Saddam – how shortsighted and stupid. Just to satisfy Bush Jr wishes to avenge his father Bush Sr over Saddam.
Do not underestimate the Iranian chess strategists, the Iraqi defectors with help and encouragement from Iran provided duff info to the CIA, and MI6 about Iraqi military capability and we fell for it like chickens to the slaughter.
Now that Sharon is out of action, the US and Britain stuck in a military quagmire in Iraq and Afghanistan, oil is in short supply and with clever Iranian trade deals with China, Russia, South Korea and Japan for the supply of oil, Iran has decide it is now time to reprocess and enrich Uranium. Iran has large naturally occurring deposits of Uranium.
For them the circumstances they planned for have resulted in a win-win situation.
With our troops stuck in Iraq and Afghanistan we cannot militarily open another front in Iran. The UN Security Council will be divided in a stalemate over what to do; China and Russian have got favoured nation trade deals with Iran. Even imposing an oil export ban or sanctions would be impossible not with worldwide oil shortages. Israel is paralysed with Sharon in hospital. Thanks to Bush and Blair Iraq is no longer a threat to Iran (one of the biggest mistakes the irony is that Chirac, Schroder and Putin warned them about this).
There is a Principle of Unintended Consequences that is taught at first year military strategy courses.
After the pre-emptive doctrine of Bush and Blair and the attack on Iraq, Iran sees that it has no alternative but to possess nuclear weapons. Iraq made it public and Iran a member of “the axis of evil” will not make the same mistake Saddam made and plans to be discrete until it actually has produced these weapons.
The Iranian tacticians now know that they have the upper hand; they have cleared the chessboard and are about to checkmate. If we impose sanctions they impose an oil export ban. We are well and truly snookered.
Posted by: Basil Blogger | January 11, 2006 at 00:49