The war in Iraq has been won

News.com.au ^ | November 02, 2007 01:00am | By Andrew Bolt

[Perdogg]

THERE is a reason Iraq has almost disappeared as an election issue.

Here it is: The battle is actually over. Iraq has been won.

I know this will seem to many of you an insane claim. Ridiculous!

After all, haven't you read countless stories that Iraq is a "disaster", turned by a "civil war" into a "killing field"?

[Jet Jaguar]

“This is an extremely dangerous postion to stake, that the war is won”

The same could be said of Reids statement, “The war is lost”.

[airborne]

The War on Terror - the Iraq Front had 2 stages. We won the first, winning the second.

If there's a 3rd stage it will involve Iran.

When there's a 3rd stage, it will involve Iran.

[Allegra]

THERE is a reason Iraq has almost disappeared as an election issue.

It's the same reason it has disappeared from the media.

I actually watch CNN now (which I normally avoid like the plague) to see if they'll say anything about the calm and quiet here.

I don't think CNN has uttered the word "Iraq" in weeks.

[mickey finn]

I guess I am too multicultural for my own good?

[ChadGore]

Re:The war in Iraq has been won

Duh! It happened the day Baghdad fell in 2003.

[Allegra]

Al Qaida knows that all it needs to do is set off a catastrophic single attack (not hard to do) to destroy this conclusion...

The Iraqis, most significantly the Sunni insurgents, have turned on al Qaeda. There have been drastic and very positive changes on the ground. The situation is vastly different from what it was a year ago.

I won't go as far as to say it's over, but Iraq is definitely being won. The changes over the last few months are nothing short of amazing.

[nokia_4_Rudy]

This is great news!

[mickey finn]

Do you sense that the Iraqi people are more positive about the situation?

[UCANSEE2]

Haven’t all the cockroaches ran for Pakistan???

I agree with the importance of dealing with Iran, but most of the Organized Crime, Terrorists, fake religious heads (clerics) have taken of major portions of Pakistan, true?

[wizr]

Thanks. Amen!

I don’t think Iraq has any more traitors in their midst now, than we do.

And, we have drawn terrorists from the jihadi ranks from all over the Middle East, which means that although Al Queda is not gone, by any means, but they are definitely scraping the bottom of the barrel for options.

Now, is when we need to tighten up security HERE. They will not give up. It’s their religion, the religion of hatred.

[Allegra]

Do you sense that the Iraqi people are more positive about the situation?

Definitely. They're getting down to the business of getting this place rebuilt now. There's been a huge increase in construction over the past few weeks because they're starting to feel more secure. And the Iraqis are helping to make this happen, which gives them more of a sense of national pride and accomplishment.

I want to come back here in five or ten years as a tourist and see all of the blast bariers removed. I want to go to shops and restaurants in a soft-skin vehicle, wearing no body armor. I want to go see the ancient sites in Nineveh and Babil and Ur.

I honestly believe I'll be able to do that in the not-too-distant future.

[enough_idiocy]

I hate to rain on the party, but I think this sort of talk is exactly what caused problems in the first place, from mission accomplished (I know it wasn’t Bush’s idea to put the banner up, and I know technically the mission was accomplished) to the insurgency is in its last throes - this sort of talk has at least indirectly caused the war to go on longer than need be and I predict that if we’re over confident (and notice people like Petreaus aren’t) we’re going to end up in another cycle of high violence.

Last time this overly confident rush to judgment language was used, they regrouped, developed new tactics, and seized on a media and political party’s eagerness to declare defeat and find loss in any negative news. If we overstate the case and rush to declare victory (after only a few good months), any uptick in violence will come back to hurt us ten times worse than if we’re cautious and patient in declaring victory.

[mickey finn]

Thanks for the commentary. Stay safe!

[Allegra]

Haven’t all the cockroaches ran for Pakistan???

Actually, multitudes have been killed or captured here.

But yes, Pakistan is a problem and there certainly needs to be a cleaning operation done there. One way or the other.

[SandRat]

THERE is a reason Iraq has almost disappeared as an election issue.

Here it is: The battle is actually over. Iraq has been won.

For once the truth is being told in the Media.

[fortheDeclaration]

Here it is: The battle is actually over. Iraq has been won. For once the truth is being told in the Media.

Great!

Then we can start bringing the troops home!

[nw_arizona_granny]

Thanks for the good news.

[ChessExpert]

Great article. I posted at the original source. Good, bad, or indifferent, here it is:

This is a very sensible article. Please note that critical replies often change the subject. As a sample, consider posts 352-350. 352 says nothing, while snottily appearing to say something. 351 changes the subject to Israel, “Palestinians” and the poster’s mistaken views on that subject. 352 changes the subject to the arsenal of Democracy, of which the author disapproves.

Bolt is right. By sensible standards, the war in Iraq has been won. Sensibly, he cautions that eternal vigilance is now required.

Of course, war critics are not satisfied. Do you remember the parades when the Russian communist empire was defeated, collapsed, and 21 conquered nations were freed? I don’t either. It’s not just that events were stretched out over time and were somewhat anticlimactic. The problem was that Marxists and liberals were sad - not happy - with the demise of the soviet union and the warsaw pact. They showed their colors (red to pink) when they credited Gorbachev for bringing peace. It was absurd. One might as well credit Hitler and Hirohito for choosing peace.

Liberal Senator Schumer, NY USA, credits victory over al qaeda in Iraq (AQI) to Sunni Sheiks. He said it happened despite, not because of, coalition forces. But who convinced the Sheiks? Anti-western sour grapes knows no bounds.

It’s sad for many leftists, but “our” coalition forces side won. Victory in Iraq is a good thing for the west. But good for the west, is bad in the eyes of leftists. The leftist view of western civilization ranges from disappointment to hatred. They have no pride in western civilization. Nor do they truly love their own country.

The battle of Iraq has been won but vigilance is still required. Muslim Jihadists worldwide are at war against the west. It is part of Mohamed’s war against infidels. They have had reason to hope. The Shah of Iran fell to Khomeini. Saudis were forced, or chose, to fund Wahabi extremist teachings. Iraq became a safe haven for terrorists. Class after class graduated from extremist mosques, schools, and terrorist training camps. We know of three terrorist training camps in Iraq. One taught airplane hijacking.

The hope of worldwide Muslim supremacy has been dimmed somewhat. But unlike the Nazis and Commies, Jihadists have not given up. Not yet. The Jihadi genie is still out of the bottle. Muslim extremists are still fighting. Their confidence and heinous actions will grow exponentially worldwide if given the chance. We mustn’t give them the chance. US General Sanchez was right when he said that the Muslim Extremist threat is greater than any we faced in the 20th century.

[wtc911]

Saying the war is over at this point would be akin to having declared so in the ETO in November 1944.

[El Gato]

Someone tell Dingy Harry and the anti-war Left we've won!

Like that would do any good. They'll continue to spout Quagmire, Disaster, Civil War, etc, etc, etc, until at least the day after the election, longer if they don't gain the White House.