But it would be foolish to hope too much from the death of one man, however evil and however competent. Perhaps the most damaging effect of his death will be the poisonous uncertainty his colleagues must now feel, in the light of the assertion that his whereabouts were betrayed by a disloyal supporter. True or false (and the statement may well have been a deliberate act of disinformation), the worm of suspicion has now been inserted in the apple.
The Washington Democrats reacted to the double dose of good news in a rather ingenious way. They have responded to each piece of bad news from Iraq in recent months by suggesting, with growing confidence, that it merely strengthened their proposal that we begin withdrawing our troops. What, then, about the good news? According to John Kerry and Nancy Pelosi, it merely strengthens their proposal that we begin withdrawing our troops!
On the contrary, it demonstrates that bad news is not inevitable; that with persistence, successes are still achievable; and that the Iraq invasion is by no means doomed to end in disaster. It may yet be the central development in a process that will transform, democratize and pacify the Middle East.