My new Tagline!
What a wonderful post. I appreciate what you're saying, and how you said it. If only the people who might change their minds would read it...
...we have taken the great anti-Western war our enemies began to their turf, and that is never a mistake.
Making one's enemies suffer is currently an under-valued activity.
Had we not forced our collective enemies to face us in the Middle East, they could have devoted the resources they're expending in Iraq to striking us at home. And yes, they'll strike us at home again, eventually--this is a colossal struggle. But passivity, appeasement and cowardice only encourage them and make it easier for them to draw strength. It is never a mistake to strike down an enemy who has sworn to kill us--as both our Islamic and secular Middle-Eastern enemies hope to do. Saddam Hussein was as much a part of the problem of the decayed, morally leprous Middle East as Osama bin Laden is. The War on Terror isn't a minor affair, but a titanic struggle with a failed civilization that includes both vicious mullahs and cynical murderers--both those who drink the poison of hate from the fouled springs of their religion and those who guzzle scotch behind closed doors (not infrequently one and the same).
If we had not deposed Saddam Hussein's regime, nothing would have changed in the Middle East. And change, so long delayed, is essential. Even should the Iraqi people fail to take advantage of the unprecedented chance we have given them to build a better future, the effort was worthwhile. On its worst day, Iraq is now a better place than it was before our soldiers crossed its borders.
If we had not deposed Saddam, dictators everywhere, as well as terrorists, would have continued to believe that the United States was all bluster, that Afghanistan was a one-off exception, an easy score. Indeed, even the tough occupation and our continued presence serve to prove that the Clinton era is over, that you can no longer make America run by killing its sons and daughters.
...It doesn't matter in the least if the Baathist regime in Baghdad had no direct ties to al-Qaeda--both were manifestations of the same civilizational disease, the same culture of failure, hatred, oppression and inertia.
There is evil in the world. And if we had not gone to Iraq, evil would still be flourishing in Baghdad.
We haven't finished anything in this great struggle. But we've made an impressive start.
Nailed It!
Moral Clarity BUMP !
This ping list is not author-specific for articles I'd like to share. Some for perfect moral clarity, some for provocative thoughts; or simply interesting articles I'd hate to miss myself. (I don't have to agree with the author 100% to feel the need to share an article.) I will try not to abuse the ping list and not to annoy you too much, but on some days there is more of good stuff that is worthy attention. I keep separate PING lists for my favorite authors Victor Davis Hanson, Lee Harris, David Warren, Orson Scott Card. You are welcome in or out, just freepmail me (and note which PING list you are talking about).