Posted on 02/15/2004 3:15:26 AM PST by The Raven
he situation in Iraq is fast approaching the tipping point. The terrorists know that if they can wreak enough havoc, kill enough Iraqis waiting in line to join their own police force, they can prevent the U.N. from coming up with a plan for elections and a stable transfer of U.S. authority to an Iraqi government. Once authority is in Iraqi hands, the Baathists and Islamists have a real problem: They can't even pretend to be fighting the U.S. anymore. It will be clear to all Arabs and Muslims that they are fighting against the freedom and independence of Iraq and for their own lunatic ideologies. Which is why they are desperate to prevent us from reaching that tipping point. Their strategy is to sow chaos, defeat President Bush and hope that his Democratic successor will pull out. Which is also why at this moment the most important statement on Iraq that can be made — one that could even save lives — is nothing President Bush could say. No, the most important statement on Iraq right now could only come from the likely Democratic presidential nominee, John Kerry.
Imagine that Tim Russert followed his excellent interview with President Bush with an interview today with Mr. Kerry. Here's what I hope it would sound like. Mr. Russert: "Senator Kerry, you essentially voted in favor of the war, but argued that the way the Bush team carried it out was deeply flawed. Well, now we're there. Tell the American people how you would deal with Iraq going forward."
Senator Kerry: "Tim, before I answer that question, I first want to direct a message to the die-hard Baathists and Islamo-fascists who've been slaughtering Iraqis struggling to build their first democratic government. And my message to these terrorists is this: `READ MY LIPS — if I am president, I will not cut and run. I will not pull our troops out in the face of your intimidation the way Ronald Reagan fled from Lebanon.' Because that panicky retreat from Beirut in 1984 started us down this whole path, where terrorists believed if they hit us hard enough, we would run and they would get away with it. I hate how George Bush has prosecuted this war. I know I could do better. But I want every suicide bomber — from Bali to Baghdad — to understand one thing about a Kerry administration: `You can blow yourselves up from now until next Ramadan, but we'll still be in Iraq. You'll be dead, but we'll still be there. Which part of that sentence don't you understand?'
"I don't say this to be macho-man, Tim. I'm not George Bush. I say this because it's the best way to save American and Iraqi lives. You see, Tim, I identify so strongly with my band of brothers and sisters wearing the American uniform in Iraq. The best way to endanger them is to suggest to the terrorists that there is daylight between me and President Bush — that if he won't run, I will. Well, there is no daylight on ends. A Kerry administration will see that Iraqis get every chance to produce their own representative government.
"But there is daylight on means. You see, Tim, if I were president, I would insist that we have a real policy of energy conservation to enlist every American in this war, by asking each of us to choke off some of the funds going to the Islamist totalitarians. I would immediately invite the leaders of the U.N., Germany, France and NATO to Camp David to rebuild the alliance that won the cold war, so we have the staying power to win this war of ideas in the Muslim world. And I would have my secretary of state out in the Middle East regularly, arguing our case, bolstering our allies and trying to bring about a secure peace for Israelis and Palestinians.
"Oh yes, Tim, my means would be very different. Unlike the Bush team, I understand that just because you have a hammer, not every problem is a nail. It takes more than force to win a war of ideas. But on ends, Tim, let no one have any illusions: a Kerry presidency will pay any price and bear any burden to try to build a decent Iraqi regime in the heart of the Arab world. My making that commitment now is the best way to prove to the terrorists that their actions are futile, and in that way save American and Iraqi lives. Failure to make that commitment would have horrific consequences for U.S. foreign policy.
"Tim, I am no dreamer. I've seen a quagmire close up. We can't want a unified, decent Iraq more than the Iraqis themselves. Ultimately, they will have to step up and come together around a plan and a leader. But the terrorists should have no illusions, and the Iraqi people should have no fears: America under John Kerry will give them every chance to succeed. We will not run."
[Coalition officials discovered a letter believed to have been written by terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi]
In his world, if we all hold hands and sing "I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony", then everybody will kiss and make up.
To be honest, I've reached the point that if I ever met this guy, I'd punch the sissy boy in the mouth.
"Our war on terror is a contest of wills in which perseverance - is power"
--GWB
What is truly scary about this article is the notion that we are responsible for the transactlantic "crisis." It is France that sows this "disunion," and she has been doing so not 50 years.
Ah, yes--the famous line from JFK's speech . . . which is exactly what the early career of our would-be "new JFK" was aimed against. I read as an indictment of Kerry the fact that he has not yet--nor likely ever to have--done this.The truth is that if you want the second coming of JFK you need look no further than George W. Bush. The JFK of the 1960s could not be nominated by the Democratic Party, any time after 1972.
There is a certain Schadenfreude in realizing moveon.org liberals are reading this and eating their livers.
He pays to write this stuff to LIBERALS who read the NYT..
remember, most of the Dems are running on "cut and run" from Iraq...Kerry is wishywashy, and it will only escalate terror if he continues to be wishy washy, since the terrorists watch CNN.
If he comes out and says he backs the war, they might settle down
As for energy policy, BUsh sadi the same thing...in a different form.
Friedman has his ups and downs, but at least in this column he is strongly advocating a tough policy that is the very opposite of the "kiss and make up" approach you describe.
The essence of his column puts the following words in Kerry's mouth, and they are anything but a warm 'n fuzzy handholder for the terrorists:
You can blow yourselves up from now until next Ramadan, but we'll still be in Iraq. You'll be dead, but we'll still be there. Which part of that sentence don't you understand?'
How about drilling in ANWR?
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