Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Victory in Mesopotamia
Ralph Peters' column on victory in Iraq is a balm for those of us who did and do support the American effort there, and it has some great red meat besides:
We all recall the delighted leftist claims that Iraq had entered a hopeless civil war. Wrong. That Iraqis preferred al Qaeda to us. Wrong. That Shia militias represented the people. Wrong. And that Iran would seize control. Wrong again.
Looking back over six years of good intentions, tragic errors, generosity, arrogance, partisan vituperation, painful deaths and ultimate vindication, two things strike me: the ever-resisted lesson that human affairs are more complex than academic theories claim, and the simple truth that most human beings prefer a measure of freedom to immeasurable repression.
Read the whole Ralph, and then go back more than three years and read my old post on the importance of the perception of victory in Iraq. We must proclaim victory and write the history of victory in Iraq in order to gain all its benefits. Will Barack Obama know how to do this, or even understand that it will be a great waste if he does not?
MORE: Allahpundit gets it. President Obama is not saying he was wrong on the surge and claiming victory per se, but he is not running from the accomplishment, either. Half a loaf, which is more than some of our commenters are predicting.
CWCID: Glenn Reynolds.
12 Comments:
By 
Christopher Chambers, at
Tue Jun 30, 11:16:00 PM:
You've been shooting heroin again. Victory? The civil war will start (over again) soon enough one way or another.
By Purple Avenger, at
Tue Jun 30, 11:28:00 PM:
The civil war will start (over again) soon enough
Want to back that assertion with some green? Say a modest $1,000 bet?
Any mutually acceptable 3rd party can hold the cash.
By Elijah, at
Tue Jun 30, 11:58:00 PM:
i agree with CC, shia vs. sunni in Iraq.
Then spreading to the greater region.
Hope the Persians have perfected their enemy air defenses
By 
, at
Wed Jul 01, 12:52:00 AM:
I like Ralph Peters, but I am not yet convinced that Iraq is out of the woods. In case you weren't looking the Sunni's just blew up 150 Shiites in a couple of different bombings this week. The Sunni's have the military tradition and are better organized. The potential is there for it to all unravel. I am not saying it will. It is just too early to tell. FWIW, As I recall, Ralph Peters has also said that the Europeans will eventually dust off the genocide weapon to rid themselves of their Muslim immigrants. Still want to cite him as a credible source??
By Gary Rosen, at
Wed Jul 01, 02:14:00 AM:
That's our Chrissy, hoping for a bloodbath in Iraq just to prove himself and the Messiah were right. The only thing that would get him harder would be a nuke on Israel.
By Dawnfire82, at
Wed Jul 01, 03:15:00 AM:
"As I recall, Ralph Peters has also said that the Europeans will eventually dust off the genocide weapon to rid themselves of their Muslim immigrants."
STRATFOR thinks the same thing. So, why not?
By , at
Wed Jul 01, 06:14:00 AM:
"Will Barack Obama know how to do this, or even understand that it will be a great waste if he does not?"
I don't think that that's the question here. He has a vested interest in making sure that that doesn't happen. The MSM will never paint Iraq as a success, and soon the fact that Saddam was a terrible person will itself be forgotten.
Get with the program: Bush and Cheney are evil. They invaded an innocent country who had nothing to do with 9-11. They tortured prisoners along the way.
That’s what the powers that be will remember about Iraq, and don’t you forget it, no matter what happens.
By Noumenon, at
Wed Jul 01, 06:57:00 AM:
Hey, Dawnfire, I did eventually get around to thinking about your comment on my Iraq post-mortem. I had to get over my hernia surgery first.
By Dawnfire82, at
Wed Jul 01, 03:48:00 PM:
Oh yeah... I completely forgot about that. I'll drop by.
Hope your recovery went well, BTW. I've had a herniated disc myself...
By , at
Wed Jul 01, 05:25:00 PM:
As an observation, it's interesting how many people seem to want to believe our effort in Iraq will eventually fail, even if it hasn't yet done so. What could explain this, I wonder...
By , at
Thu Jul 02, 05:55:00 AM:
"perception of victory"
Like Vietnam?
Every other country in the world including the UK recognises that Iraq has been a total disaster. Removing and executing America and the West's closest ally outside Israel and Saudi Arabia in the Middle East and replacing it with.. probably a Sharia Law Islamic State.
Losers, wake up.
By Dawnfire82, at
Thu Jul 02, 09:40:00 AM:
"Removing and executing America and the West's closest ally outside Israel and Saudi Arabia..."
I see you overlooked Turkey. And Jordan. And Egypt. And the Gulf sheikhdoms. And then revised history to make Iraq a friendly power.
"probably a Sharia Law Islamic State."
Probably? This seems like a pretty clear proof of Anonymous 5:25's comment...
