Posted by
Jay Noble on Wednesday, January 17, 2007 4:38:19 PM
No president since Lincoln has ever been as assailed by a surrender lobby as George W. Bush. The stampede of Democrats and Republicans to embrace defeat in Iraq is the disgraceful episode that I have witnessed in my lifetime. Never had I thought to see elected American representatives positively determined that the United States retreat from a battlefield in defeat and no matter the consequences.
Cowardice in any form is repulsive, and the political cowardice of being displayed by Republicans in this instant is particularly repellant. One expects defeatism from the Democrats, who long ago threw in with the enemy in the desire that the U.S. bug out from Iraq. Republicans like Chuck Hagel and Gordon Smith have displayed an equally shameless capacity to dress betrayal as an act of faith.
Perhaps the Congress reflects the majority of the American people. If so, it is a remarkably short-sighted mindset, as it ignores the terrible consequences that a U.S. withdrawal in defeat from Iraq will have. The president understands this, which explains his decision to reinforce our troops in Iraq in an attempt to suppress insurgent sponsored violence. That an apparent majority of Congress is so spooked by the transient passions of the American people is an abdication of responsibility to the country.
What is at stake in Iraq is nothing less than whether the United States will remain the world’s preeminent power, which has momentous consequences for the balance of power world wide. If the U.S. cuts and runs from Iraq then it is finished as the world’s superpower and a vacuum will arise, a vacuum which will be filled by one or more nations, dependent on the region and the convergence of forces in the area. The United States will be viewed, correctly, as a paper tiger unwilling to pay the price necessary to prosecute a military conflict to victory. Since the bad actors of this world are ultimately only deterred by the likely prospect of being vanquished by military conflict, the recognition that the one power which assuredly could bring about that result lacks the will to do so will embolden these bad actors and lead to aggression against their neighbors. Think of a city where the police force flees the streets; very soon the streets belong to the criminals. The United States, for better or worst, has served as the world policemen, and are leaving Iraq will be a clarion call to the criminals of this world that the law has left town and will not be returning.
The American people and George Bush deserve better than the Surrender stampede in the Congress. While I think the Iraq war was the dominant reason a Democrat Congress was elected, I believe the voters desired a new strategy, not cut and run. Of course, if that is the voters wanted, our problem is even bigger than the Iraq war.