A new dawn for democracy...
By Mark Alexander · Friday, May 2, 2003
President George W. Bush, a former Air Guard fighter pilot himself, flew from San Diego's NAS North Island to the carrier U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln (returning from the Persian Gulf) on an S-3B Viking (Navy One) Thursday afternoon. It was his first controlled crash landing, and on a much shorter runway than you Air Force guys get! (The Federalist is nominating Mr. Bush for honorary membership in the Tailhook Association!) Thursday evening, he addressed about 3,000 Navy and Marine personnel and the American people from the deck of CVN-72. The occasion was to note formally the end of major combat operations in Iraq and in Afghanistan. The Commander-in-Chief was at home in good company among the military men and women under his command -- there was mutual honor, respect and admiration among them.
The President began by noting that the accomplishment of "one of the swiftest advances of heavy arms in history" belongs to the troops, saying, "It is you, the members of the United States military, who achieved it. Your courage, your willingness to face danger for your country and for each other, made this day possible. Because of you, our nation is more secure. Because of you, the tyrant has fallen, and Iraq is free." Mr. Bush offered "a special word for Secretary Rumsfeld, for General Franks, and for all the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States; America is grateful for a job well done."
The President spoke of the enduring character of America's fighting forces, forged in our nation's heritage of life and liberty. "The character of our military through history -- the daring of Normandy, the fierce courage of Iwo Jima, the decency and idealism that turned enemies into allies -- is fully present in this generation. When Iraqi civilians looked into the faces of our servicemen and women, they saw strength, and kindness, and good will. When I look at the members of the United States military, I see the best of our country, and I am honored to be your commander-in-chief."
The President then commented on the changes in the character of warfare in the battle of Iraq: "No device of man can remove the tragedy from war; yet it is a great moral advance when the guilty have far more to fear from war than the innocent." He reiterated our nation's commitment to prosecuting the war with Jihadistan, warning all those plotting or harboring terror. But he also offered to any friend of freedom the pledge of "a loyal friend in the United States of America."
Notably, the center of his message was in these words: "The battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that began on September the 11, 2001 -- and still goes on. That terrible morning, 19 evil men -- the shock troops of a hateful ideology -- gave America and the civilized world a glimpse of their ambitions. They imagined, in the words of one terrorist, that September the 11th would be the 'beginning of the end of America.' By seeking to turn our cities into killing fields, terrorists and their allies believed that they could destroy this nation's resolve, and force our retreat from the world. They have failed. ...The war on terror is not over; yet it is not endless. We do not know the day of final victory, but we have seen the turning of the tide. No act of the terrorists will change our purpose, or weaken our resolve, or alter their fate. Their cause is lost. Free nations will press on to victory."
The President's statement fell short -- just barely -- of a victory speech. The truth is, the situations on both the Iraq and Afghanistan fronts continue to be dangerous and potentially deadly, and a formal declaration of cessation of hostilities would trigger some international laws that would make the environment more dangerous still for coalition forces. More requisite is advancing the truth that the war fronts with Iraq and Afghanistan were but two, albeit significant, theaters in the ongoing war with Jihadistan.
In Iraq, U.S. troops took into custody Taha Muhie-eldin Marouf, an Iraqi vice president and member of the Revolutionary Command Council, and Abd al Tawab Mullah Huwaysh, director of the Office of Military Industrialization. Also captured is Farouk Hijazi, an Iraqi intelligence officer who was reputed planner of the April, 1993, assassination attempt on Bush(41). Hijazi, once identified as third highest ranking member of Saddam Hussein's Mukhabarat, reportedly met with Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan in December, 1998. Another al-Qa'ida-linked capture took place in Baghdad, where an unnamed associate of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was nabbed. The trail seems hot for those in Iraq with a Jihadi connection.
And the search for Iraq’s WMD stashes continued, bolstered this week by the surrender of Gen. Amir Saadi, who ran Iraq's chemical-weapons program. We should all hope and pray that Saddam’s stores of biological weapons are still to be found in Iraq. If those infectious agents and toxins made it out of Iraq, while we were busy dancing with the UN Security Council, then the risk of the use of those weapons on U.S. soil has not been diminished by the successful regime change in Iraq.
Regarding reconstruction in Iraq, site boss Jay Garner said Americans should take pride in the endeavor thus far: "I was planning on having the oilfields torched and facing a huge humanitarian crisis, but the oilfields were not torched and there is no humanitarian crisis," Garner said. The commander of coalition land forces, Lt. Gen. David McKernan, concurred, "For every one thing that doesn't look right or smell right, there are ten things going well." A second meeting on the way to formation of an interim Iraqi authority to govern the nation took place, and plans continue on track for a federal constitutional republic to supplant Saddam's murderous Ba'athist socialism. The military victory in Iraq could indeed rewrite the history of the region, with greater individual liberty and the rule of law replacing authoritarian governments and remaking regional relationships.
With regard to Iraq's political restructuring, the U.S. finds itself in a delicate position: On the one hand, the White House is sensitive to not appearing heavy-handed or imperialistic. To this end, President Bush appears eager to reduce the U.S. troop presence in the region as soon as possible, and plans are now in place to withdraw all U.S. forces from Saudi Arabia.
On the other hand, a quick withdrawal from Iraq may not prove all that easy. In order to leave a safe Iraq, the U.S. must leave a democratic Iraq. In order to leave a democratic Iraq, the U.S. must create a democratic Iraq. In a population that is majority Shi'ite and under 25 years of age, the importance of creating a mechanism -- and a uniquely Arab mechanism -- to assure a sustainable democratic republic cannot be overestimated. It is utterly improbable that the democratic government of Iraq -- or any Middle Eastern Arab nation -- could ever be "secular" in the western sense. In fact, recent reports of activities within Iraq's Shi'ite community suggest that a democratic Iraq may encounter an obstacle in Shi'ite Islam. Though militant Islam remains an issue within Iraq's Shi'ite majority, a closer look reveals that most Iraqi Shi'ites have gratefully embraced their liberation and do not seek to install a cleric-dominated, radical Muslim government.
And who will ensure Iraqi democracy's coming of age? Certainly not the UN. As if more evidence of that body's passage from moral ambiguity to certain evil was needed, note a recent exert from the Wall Street Journal: "The [UN Commission on Human Rights] is the primary UN organ responsible for human-rights protection. The current chair is Libya. ...[T]hree of the State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism are current members -- Cuba, Sudan and Syria. On April 15, the commission adopted a resolution sanctioning the use of 'all available means including armed struggle' -- which includes suicide bombing -- as a legitimate tactic against Israelis. Only five countries, including the U.S., voted against."
This is the same UN Human Rights Commission which this week exonerated Cuba for the life-sentences of 78 anti-Castro dissidents, as well as the execution of three others captured in their attempt to flee to the U.S. Afterward, Cuba was re-elected to its seat on the commission.
Rather than the UN, The Federalist anticipates that security in the Middle East will increasingly become the responsibility of NATO, which recently admitted Turkey as its first Middle Eastern member-state, and plans to take over peacekeeping responsibilities in Afghanistan in August.
Significantly, NATO's growing global importance has not gone unnoticed by the "Axis of Weasels" -- the obstructionists of Old Europe. This week the prime ministers of Belgium and Luxembourg, together with French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, met to consider the formation of a European defense force to act as a counter to NATO. This Franco-German alliance believes that the European Union must evolve into something more than an economic entity; forming an EU defense force would renew Old Europe's geopolitical relevance and counter U.S. hegemony.
By sabotaging NATO, France and Germany have likely relegated themselves to permanent obscurity. "New Europe" is now led by Britain. Spain, Italy and the Netherlands have emerged as key U.S. allies and serious global voices. And not to be ignored or forgotten, Poland and the other former Eastern bloc satellites -- states for whom tyranny is a recent memory -- have established themselves as integral parts of New Europe's pro-Atlantic axis. In this new world of terrorist threats, asymmetric wars and preemptive responses, the U.S. needs such reliable and principled allies now more than ever before.
Speaking of France, we are shocked -- SHOCKED -- to report that documents uncovered in the Iraqi foreign ministry clearly indicate that "friends of Iraq" at the French foreign ministry gave Saddam regular, timely reports on Jacques Chirac's progress with U.S. diplomats regarding war plans. Some of this information may have compromised operations during the war -- and may have cost American lives.
In related news...
Our successes in Iraq and Afghanistan have opened the way to what is being termed a "warm lilypad" repositioning of military basing overseas -- mainly in the Persian Gulf at first, but also for Europe in the none-too-distant future. The next-door presence of Saddam Hussein's wicked regime was the only reason for posting large numbers of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia, and with that threat removed, our warriors can move to friendlier territory in the region. Thus, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld announced that the troops, approximately 5,000 personnel and 50 aircraft, based at the Prince Sultan air base south of the Saudi capital of Riyadh, will be moved out by summer's end. Prince Sultan's computerized Combined Air Operations Center will be shifted to the Al Udeid air base in Qatar. Other Gulf Cooperation Council nations also currently hosting U.S. forces and equipment are Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. About that "unilateralism" allegation, looks to us like we have plenty of friends and allies in the region.
Quote of the week...
"Whether you're Sunni or Shia or Kurd or Chaldean or Assyrian or Turkoman or Christian or Jew or Muslim -- no matter what your faith, freedom is God's gift to every person in every nation." --George W. Bush
On cross-examination...
"It may be a dangerous world, and it may be an untidy world, but our country and our friends and allies are going to be able to preserve our way of life, [so we] still can continue as free people, not climb into holes and hide from others." --Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
Open query...
"By the way, did we keep Kuwait's oil after the 1991 Gulf War? If we did, I wouldn't be paying $1.67 a gallon for gas." --Don Feder responding to Leftist claims the U.S. wants control of Iraq's oil.