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Nearly 11 million Iraqis said they wanted a representative government based on the constitution they wrote. This is an undeniable display of the desires of the Iraqi people. It is the Islamic extremists who realize that their power cannot survive, nor their fantasies be realized, under this kind of representative government.

Not quite. Ideological extremism and republican government are not mutually exclusive possibilities. The problem with the conservative mantra to this effect is that the libs know the truth; after all, they are themselves ideological extremists. Islam is not inimical to democracy, nor is "Islamofascism" as such. Political terrorism is a product of the democratic age; they are symbiotic. The libs aren't wrong when they say that going to war in Iraq was exactly what Bin Laden wanted, though they are wrong in their understanding of why men like Bin Laden wanted it. Bin Laden's ideological Islam could never have gained control in Iraq so long as Saddam was in power. Getting rid of him was important, and more than for reasons of national security -- it was honorable -- but we have to understand that political terrorists always want an opportunity to establish their ideology as a political reality. That can only be done in a free political system. That's why terrorism has usually been a leftist phenomena. Indeed, by our own ideological notions we would have to let them have a say. A democratic revolution in Islam would probably be to the benefit of those who wish to see a revived Muslim mega-state.

If we insist that democracy and free political institutions will change Islam the Muslims wont accept it. If we take the opposite approach, which now seems to be the conservative one, and try make a democracy with a Muslim character we will likely end up with either a shaky system or someone worse than Saddam. Someone popular, someone who believes that democracy can make Islam great again, and can convince the Muslims to follow.

You have to admire the genius of Bin Laden, he didn't lie to us by implying that this conflict was a clash of cultures. Rather his claim compelled us (both the Conservatives and the Libs) to try and deny it; which works better for him because then we will do everything to prove that Islam isn't the enemy and thus wont attack the real source of the problem.

The sad part is terrorism usually works. At least, I can't think of a previous terrorist campaign which didn't.