Can’t Promote Freedom Abroad as it Disappears at Home

Let's be clear, though: Muslim nations will also not respect us if we had not abandoned our commitment to liberty. They do not regard us with suspicion because we have liberty, or because we lack it; they regard us with suspicion because we do not bow to the Prophet, Muhammad. Since the Muslim religion demands that they spread Islam by the sword, the only way we can get them to respect us sufficiently to leave us alone is to make them see the futility of military enterprises. This is why it was so important to win in Iraq -- and why abandoning Iraq before the job was done was an enormous blunder.