Sam Weaver
It depends on her virtue
By Sam Weaver
I am an optimist, but I am also a realist. I know that neither the Global War against Islamo-fascism nor the current major front of this war — Operation Iraqi Freedom — can be won unless and until we suppress our enemies on the home front.
Who are these enemies on the home front? They are the very same horde who brought humiliation and defeat for America (not to mention the great people of Vietnam!) in the Vietnam War. They are the peaceniks and the global relativists. They are the uber-liberals and the Bush-haters in Congress, in the media, and in academia. They are the bunch who wanted Saddam Hussein to be tried in The Hague, where he would have had a good chance at a "fair trial." To this bunch, a "fair trial" for Saddam means acquittal — if for no other reason than to rub it in the face of the despised, "evil" George W. Bush. After all, "'evil' is such a relative term!"
Thank God, Saddam will be tried by his peers — Iraqis who have endured his absolute evil for most if not all of their lives. World opinion will mean diddly squat. Exactly as it should be! Saddam will get a fair and honest trial and then he will be summarily executed. Sweet justice!
Seeing Saddam's evil dead body swinging from a rope probably won't do a great deal for world opinion. Boo hoo! However, contemplate for a moment what it might mean for the Iraqi people. Millions of Iraqis have lived their entire lives in horror of the despot. As long as he is alive, that terror is a very real part of their psyche. As long as he lives and breathes, there is a chance in the back of every Iraqi's mind that he could come back and rule over them with an emboldened wrath and ferocity. I have no doubt that this fear is repressing the liberty, the achievement, and the greatness of the Iraqi people. Seeing the former dictator dead will lift that veil of fear and repression more than you or I could even begin to realize.
Then there are the Saddam loyalists who make up a significant portion of the so-called insurgency. They are fighting to restore the regime that gave them their livelihood. When they see that Saddam is maggot food, they will, in effect, have nothing left to fight for. They may even decide to create a livelihood for themselves in a free and open market.
Again, I am an optimist, but I am also a realist. I understand completely that the execution of the erstwhile despot will by no means be the end of major problems in Iraq. It could very well be a solid beginning, however.
In the meantime, there are at least four major objectives that must be achieved before coalition forces can be removed from Iraq in any substantial numbers. If I had my way, the U. S. would establish a large, state-of-the-art permanent military base in Iraq as headquarters for future operations against Syria, Iran, and North Korea, for starters. For better or worse, I have absolutely no say in the matter. In reality, neither does the U. S. president, the U. S. Secretary of Defense, nor the U. S. Congress. The coalition troops in Iraq are not occupiers, they are liberators. Iraqis have the final say! But, I digress.
The four objectives that must be met before coalition forces begin to redeploy from Iraq are as follows:
First, Iraqi military and security forces must be adequately trained and equipped so that the nation can be sufficiently defended against both foreign and domestic foes. By virtually all accounts, this objective is proceeding much more slowly and awkwardly than originally planned. Perhaps I'm being more optimistic than realistic, but I believe this objective will go much smoother and much more rapidly once Saddam is in his grave.
Second, foreign fighters and jihadists inside Iraq must be subdued. Before American troops are pulled from the theatre in any significant numbers, Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi must have worms dining on his rotting entrails.
Third, infrastructure (e.g., schools, hospitals, market places, roads and bridges, power plants, refineries and pipelines) must be totally rebuilt and then adequately secured by able Iraqi security forces.
Fourth, and probably most important, the fundamental principles of freedom (e.g., the rule of law, private property rights and free-enterprise) must be instilled in the Iraqi leaders and, generally, in the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people. After the elections coming up on December 15 and after all three of the above objectives are met, this fourth goal will come instinctively. Freedom is the natural desire of every human being. There are examples of this in recent history — perhaps none so obvious, nor so fitting, as the Japanese people after WWII.
To a person who receives all of his news and information from the Old Media, achievement of these four objectives seem overwhelming if not utterly hopeless. To those who are moral, educated, and informed, on the other hand, there is great reason for optimism and hope.
Can the Iraqi people sustain their freedom by building upon the framework that coalition forces and contractors have so courageously fought and died to erect for them? Shortly after the U.S. Constitution was ratified, the American patriot known in many circles as the Father of the American Revolution, Samuel Adams, said, "I thank God that I have lived to see my country independent and free. She may long enjoy her independence and freedom if she will. It depends on her virtue."
Long-term success in the Global War against Islamo-fascism hinges on the virtue of the Iraqi people. If they can sustain freedom and representative democracy in their homeland, then they will be a shining light — a city upon a hill — for the Muslim world to behold. If they truly revere their freedom, overcome their fears, and begin to suppress their hatreds, then totalitarian regimes all over the Arab and Muslim realm will topple like dominos. This is a tall order. It will take leadership and resolve. Any degree of peace and freedom demands that it be done.
The war on the home front will be lost if Americans continue en masse to reject virtue (morality) and the principles and values upon which liberty is established. If we continue to bow to the conventional wisdom of "experts" and the tyranny of bureaucrats, judges, and the PC crowd, then liberty will be lost forever. If we continue to listen to this crowd and to give them even a smidgen of credibility, then our resolve to win the war abroad will continue to fade if not diminish completely. Fascism (both of the radical Islamist variety and of the radical secularist sort) will have emerged victorious in the end. Let us not allow this to happen!
© Sam Weaver
I am an optimist, but I am also a realist. I know that neither the Global War against Islamo-fascism nor the current major front of this war — Operation Iraqi Freedom — can be won unless and until we suppress our enemies on the home front.
Who are these enemies on the home front? They are the very same horde who brought humiliation and defeat for America (not to mention the great people of Vietnam!) in the Vietnam War. They are the peaceniks and the global relativists. They are the uber-liberals and the Bush-haters in Congress, in the media, and in academia. They are the bunch who wanted Saddam Hussein to be tried in The Hague, where he would have had a good chance at a "fair trial." To this bunch, a "fair trial" for Saddam means acquittal — if for no other reason than to rub it in the face of the despised, "evil" George W. Bush. After all, "'evil' is such a relative term!"
Thank God, Saddam will be tried by his peers — Iraqis who have endured his absolute evil for most if not all of their lives. World opinion will mean diddly squat. Exactly as it should be! Saddam will get a fair and honest trial and then he will be summarily executed. Sweet justice!
Seeing Saddam's evil dead body swinging from a rope probably won't do a great deal for world opinion. Boo hoo! However, contemplate for a moment what it might mean for the Iraqi people. Millions of Iraqis have lived their entire lives in horror of the despot. As long as he is alive, that terror is a very real part of their psyche. As long as he lives and breathes, there is a chance in the back of every Iraqi's mind that he could come back and rule over them with an emboldened wrath and ferocity. I have no doubt that this fear is repressing the liberty, the achievement, and the greatness of the Iraqi people. Seeing the former dictator dead will lift that veil of fear and repression more than you or I could even begin to realize.
Then there are the Saddam loyalists who make up a significant portion of the so-called insurgency. They are fighting to restore the regime that gave them their livelihood. When they see that Saddam is maggot food, they will, in effect, have nothing left to fight for. They may even decide to create a livelihood for themselves in a free and open market.
Again, I am an optimist, but I am also a realist. I understand completely that the execution of the erstwhile despot will by no means be the end of major problems in Iraq. It could very well be a solid beginning, however.
In the meantime, there are at least four major objectives that must be achieved before coalition forces can be removed from Iraq in any substantial numbers. If I had my way, the U. S. would establish a large, state-of-the-art permanent military base in Iraq as headquarters for future operations against Syria, Iran, and North Korea, for starters. For better or worse, I have absolutely no say in the matter. In reality, neither does the U. S. president, the U. S. Secretary of Defense, nor the U. S. Congress. The coalition troops in Iraq are not occupiers, they are liberators. Iraqis have the final say! But, I digress.
The four objectives that must be met before coalition forces begin to redeploy from Iraq are as follows:
First, Iraqi military and security forces must be adequately trained and equipped so that the nation can be sufficiently defended against both foreign and domestic foes. By virtually all accounts, this objective is proceeding much more slowly and awkwardly than originally planned. Perhaps I'm being more optimistic than realistic, but I believe this objective will go much smoother and much more rapidly once Saddam is in his grave.
Second, foreign fighters and jihadists inside Iraq must be subdued. Before American troops are pulled from the theatre in any significant numbers, Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi must have worms dining on his rotting entrails.
Third, infrastructure (e.g., schools, hospitals, market places, roads and bridges, power plants, refineries and pipelines) must be totally rebuilt and then adequately secured by able Iraqi security forces.
Fourth, and probably most important, the fundamental principles of freedom (e.g., the rule of law, private property rights and free-enterprise) must be instilled in the Iraqi leaders and, generally, in the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people. After the elections coming up on December 15 and after all three of the above objectives are met, this fourth goal will come instinctively. Freedom is the natural desire of every human being. There are examples of this in recent history — perhaps none so obvious, nor so fitting, as the Japanese people after WWII.
To a person who receives all of his news and information from the Old Media, achievement of these four objectives seem overwhelming if not utterly hopeless. To those who are moral, educated, and informed, on the other hand, there is great reason for optimism and hope.
Can the Iraqi people sustain their freedom by building upon the framework that coalition forces and contractors have so courageously fought and died to erect for them? Shortly after the U.S. Constitution was ratified, the American patriot known in many circles as the Father of the American Revolution, Samuel Adams, said, "I thank God that I have lived to see my country independent and free. She may long enjoy her independence and freedom if she will. It depends on her virtue."
Long-term success in the Global War against Islamo-fascism hinges on the virtue of the Iraqi people. If they can sustain freedom and representative democracy in their homeland, then they will be a shining light — a city upon a hill — for the Muslim world to behold. If they truly revere their freedom, overcome their fears, and begin to suppress their hatreds, then totalitarian regimes all over the Arab and Muslim realm will topple like dominos. This is a tall order. It will take leadership and resolve. Any degree of peace and freedom demands that it be done.
The war on the home front will be lost if Americans continue en masse to reject virtue (morality) and the principles and values upon which liberty is established. If we continue to bow to the conventional wisdom of "experts" and the tyranny of bureaucrats, judges, and the PC crowd, then liberty will be lost forever. If we continue to listen to this crowd and to give them even a smidgen of credibility, then our resolve to win the war abroad will continue to fade if not diminish completely. Fascism (both of the radical Islamist variety and of the radical secularist sort) will have emerged victorious in the end. Let us not allow this to happen!
© Sam Weaver
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