The terrorists and their sympathizers in Iraq keep saying American resolve
is fading - and that American troops will soon fade away with it. But a
headline last week told a different story: "U.S. general says Iraq needs
buildup into '08."
What's this - are the Americans still determined to win in Iraq? How
unsettling that possibility must be for Sunni insurgents, Shi'ite zealots,
al-Qaida killers and any armed Baathists still lurking about.
This can't be what they'd expected. At this point in a long cruel war, the
Americans were supposed to be packing up and pulling out. Instead they're
being reinforced.
Our enemies weren't counting on American resilience. Of course not. They
don't believe in it. Indeed, they've made its absence an article of faith.
The supposed weakness of the decadent West - our lack of staying power in
any protracted conflict-is central not just to the enemy's strategy but its
ideology, which holds that a corrupt, faithless West will be no match for a
newly militant Islam.
It hasn't been too long since al-Qaida's second-in-command was confidently
saying that Iraq would prove just a repeat of Vietnam. Speaking of those
Iraqis now cooperating with our troops, he predicted that America "is about
to depart and abandon them, just as it abandoned their like in Vietnam."
What a shock it must been when a new American general took command with a
new strategy. Another 20,000 American troops are now being readied to secure
Baghdad. And then, in cooperation with Iraqi forces, they're to begin
spreading out, taking and holding enemy strongholds beyond the capital.
The terrorists are reported to be clearing out of Baghdad, headed for safer
havens. What a revolting development this must be for our enemies.
And not just for our enemies. Because a new, Democrat-dominated Congress is
objecting mightily to this show of strength - and this administration's
determination, despite everything, to pursue victory. Democratic leaders are
reacting with cries of outrage - and mounting threats to cut off support for
the war, all the while proclaiming their support for the troops.
It seems a strange way to support the troops, shutting off funds for the
military and objecting to reinforcements - even while padding this latest
appropriation for the war with all kinds of pork, from assorted farm
subsidies to flood control projects. There may be a war on, but the special
interests will get their money as usual.