It would be foolish to think that the terrorists would go away if we went away. "If we're not fighting and destroying this enemy in Iraq," says the president, "they would not be idle. They would be plotting and killing Americans across the world and within our own borders. By fighting these terrorists in Iraq, Americans in uniform are defeating a direct threat to the American people."
He described how the terrorists would fill the vacuum left behind: "They would then use Iraq as a base from which to launch attacks against America and overthrow moderate governments in the Middle East and try to establish a totalitarian Islamic empire that reaches from Indonesia to Spain."
Leaving now would undermine what Sen. Lieberman witnessed as "the growing stability and progress in the Middle East, which has long been a major American national and economic security priority."
The senator correctly sizes up the men and women of both parties who are running for cover despite what the clear evidence tells everyone. He is sickened by the posturing, both of Democrats eager to prolong a pointless 3-year-old argument over how we got into this war, and the Republicans who aren't men enough to stand by what they have been saying now that another Election Day comes in sight.
The worst among us are those who bounce back and forth, seeking to exploit the sentiment of the day. John Kerry once demanded more troops for Iraq and now wants a quick pullout. Hillary Clinton says she willingly takes responsibility for her votes for war but she should never have been asked to vote for a war she now calls a mistake. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi voted against immediate withdrawal two weeks ago and now wants to cut and run. (Isn't asking a San Francisco Democrat for strategy on the war like asking David Duke for strategy on protecting the civil rights of blacks?)
Fortunately, the soldiers and Marines in Iraq are not girly men. A Marine general at Camp Fallujah puts it on the line: "My Marines are motivated by their devotion to each other and the cause, not by political debates." Marines go for the knockout.