Stay the Course

Since the Iraq invasion, key liberal talking points include:

1. A multi-racial Iraq could never become democratic, given the enmity between Sunni, Shi'ia and Kurd.



2. And, lately, the democratic revolutions suddenly sprouting throughout the mid-East and elsewhere are unrelated to the Bush Doctrine.



3. Terrorism's been around forever and will never be vanquished.

Recent events show liberal defeatism (as usual) is wrong.

1. On Sunday, AP reported cooperation and negotiation among all three sects:

   Iraqi lawmakers elected a Sunni Arab as parliament speaker and Shiite and Kurdish leaders as his deputies on Sunday, ending days of deadlock as they sought to balance the country's predominant religious and ethnic groups in a new government.
   
   The selection of Industry Minister Hajim al-Hassani as parliament speaker was a step toward repairing the tattered image of the newly elected National Assembly, which had bickered for days over the post. A session Tuesday disintegrated into shouts and accusations.
   
   "It's time for the patient, Iraqi people to be treated with the dignity that God has given them," al-Hassani said as he accepted his new post. He urged his fellow lawmakers to work together, adding that "if we neglect our duties and fail, then we will hurt ourselves and the people will replace us with others."

   Quite an accomplishment: though some Sunnis boycotted the vote, the National Assembly chose a Sunni for the top job. On top of that, 64 Sunni clerics called on Sunnis to abandon terrorism and join the Iraqi Army and police.



2. We're winning in Iraq. And Bush's new policies, having been a success so far, are inspiring the region, says Mohammed at Iraq the Model:

   Iraq is showing the region a new experiment here that is hopefully going to be the corner stone for a true major reform in the Middle East. This is going to be a tough road and we might not reach our goals with the desired speed and easiness but the important thing here is that this new experience in Iraq will not be confined to this country alone, it will help and inspire the oppressed nations that are still suffering from regimes similar to Saddam's to build their own examples and the sacrifices that are going to be given in Iraq will make the sought for freedom easier and faster for other freedom seekers.
   
   Now let Iraq be a candle that shows the road for those who were hesitant go through the dangers of that road.

   Take, for example, Lebanon, where Syria today promised to remove all of troops by April 30th. And today's Kyrgyzstan news:

   [D]eposed president Askar Akayev agreed to formally resign Sunday in a move welcomed by the Central Asian state's post-coup government as key to cementing the opposition's seizure of power.
   
   Akayev made the announcement at a brief news conference in Moscow, where he has been in exile since fleeing the revolution that gripped his homeland ten days ago.

   Indeed, change is coming even in supposedly intractable Palestine.



3. Finally, terrorism in Iraq, and worldwide, clearly is waning. Sunday's Scotsman focused on Iraq:

   Two years after the huge statue of Saddam Hussein was toppled in the centre of Baghdad, the tide could finally be turning against the country’s insurgents.
   
   Although the euphoria that accompanied the demolition of the statue has long since evaporated, some observers are beginning to wonder whether the insurgency in Iraq is at last running out of steam. . . .
   
   Pentagon spokesman Larry Di Rita says: "The intelligence is getting better. We have apprehended or killed an enormous number of insurgents, so we may well be seeing people who are less skilled at what they’re doing. Their ability to anticipate and target is becoming cruder because the coalition’s intelligence is getting better." . . .
   
   No one is certain how many insurgents there are. Including foot soldiers, safe-house operators, organisers and financiers, the number is estimated at between 12,000 and 20,000 - but there is some evidence that they are under pressure.
   
   US officials say that since the elections Iraqis have begun providing information on suspicious activities or people, encouraged by the state-run television station that broadcasts the confessions of alleged insurgents.
   
   Michael O’Hanlon, an expert on Iraq at the Brookings Institution in Washington, says that the current mood of optimism is damaging insurgent recruitment and has turned public opinion against the militants. "There’s more and more a sense that the insurgents are attacking Iraqis and Iraq itself," he says.

   The Iraqi election and the consequent reduction in terrorism is echoed worldwide, says Amir Taheri column in the Morocco Times:

   The movement is also finding it increasingly difficult to attract new recruits, especially within the Muslim world. Even in Western Europe (where Muslim communities still represent fertile recruiting ground), the number of "volunteers" peaked in the fall of 2003 and has been falling since. . .
   
   For the first time in two decades, the movement is also beginning to face fund-raising difficulties. The generous donations that indirectly came from various regional countries have stopped, while scores of bank accounts operated by the militants have been frozen. . .
   
   The biggest setback for the Islamists, however, is a shift of mood in the Islamic heartland. The elections in West Bank and Gaza, Afghanistan and Iraq; Lebanon's freedom movement; the beginnings of change in Egypt, Yemen and Saudi Arabia — all have helped generate new interest in democratic reform.

What prompted this string of success? Simple: Bush's willingness to back diplomacy with a credible threat of force. Gary at RightPundit says:

Terrorism works as a tactic only when governmental authorities give in to the terrorists. When the government has both the backbone to stand up to the terrorists and the ability to do so, the victims of the terrorists understand that the terrorists are the bad guys and they abandon the terrorists. This is happening now in Iraq. The tide has turned and al Qaeda is being washed out to sea.

The score card's looking better every day. Except for Europe, Zimbabwe, China and Venezuela. Those dominos, too, will fall some day soon.

Westerners treasure freedoms and elected government. Since all humans were created equal, those dismissing spreading democracy as "mullarkey" must believe that the people of other nations are fundamentally different from -- or could it be less evolved than? -- Americans. Such nonsense ill suits liberal internationalists, because it's elitist and racist. We are fighting WW IV--but if the term seems overbroad, think of it as standing for freedom, against autocracy and prejudice. However put, the goal is achievable. Unlike diamonds, terrorism need not be forever.

(via Joe's Dartblog, PubliusPundit and Templar Pundit)