Well, nearly every war is riddled with disappointment and pain, Iraq certainly included. But judged fairly, Iraq has been much less costly and debacle-ridden than the Civil War, World War II, Korea, and the Cold War—each considered in retrospect to have been noble successes.
Go read the whole thing. Print a copy and put it in your favorite liberal’s desk. Highlight this passage:
At one base where I was embedded for a time, a car loaded with explosives pulled up to the front gate and detonated. Construction of the bomb was botched, however, and the badly burned driver survived long enough to talk to guards at the entrance. It turned out the wife and children of the driver (who was handcuffed to the steering wheel) had been kidnapped, and he was informed they would be killed if he didn’t drive the car as instructed. A triggerman in a following vehicle actually initiated the blast, wirelessly, then fled.
Gently remind your misguided friend that these people want to export this sort of behavior and will if they aren’t dealt with on their home turf. Tell them that if they want to be helpful instead of counterproductive and obfuscatory, that they should make a donation to one of many charities that help the people of Iraq.
Here are a few I trust:
CARE USA
Lutheran World Relief
American Refugee Committee
It should be no secret that what Iraq needs most to succeed is hope. Hope is the most precious commodity here. It’s the one thing terrorists need most to destroy. The insurgency has allies back in the U.S. who want us to pack up our bags and get out. Those people don’t understand that Americans are merchants of hope. We’re the only optimists in this country half the time and we’re the ingredient holding everything together.
I cannot believe that Democrats and their co-conspirators do not understand that their continuous demands for immediate withdrawal, if met, would result in a vacuum of hope here in Iraq, which would be immediately followed by a bloody power struggle and a quick return to a fundamentalist theocracy or a sociopathic dictatorship. The cost of withdrawing would end up costing the world 20 or 200 times what has been spent from the invasion until now. The cost in human lives would be immeasurable.
Send some hope to Iraq. In the short term, Iraq needs law & order. In the long term Infrastructure, Internet and English are the three things the country needs most to move into a state compatible with the reality of the 21st century. Send a donation to a charity. Send the editorial I mentioned to all your fence sitting and anti-war friends and most important of all let us stay and finish the job we started!
Hat Tip: Instapundit