Democracy or Terror--Dems Must Decide

Al-Qaeda’s man in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, clarified his position on freedom: He's against it, according to the Telegraph (UK):

We have declared a bitter war against the principle of democracy and all those who seek to enact it. Candidates in elections are seeking to become demi-gods while those who vote for them are infidels. And with God as my witness, I have informed them (of our intentions).

The Telegraph also reported:

Insurgents in a town in central Iraq made a gruesome billboard threat to behead Iraqis who take part in next weekend's elections, warning they will use ink thumb prints to be issued at polling stations to target voters.

The graphic poster, showing a headless body with its' thumb covered in ink, was pasted next to campaign materials in the town. All voters will have a thumb marked with a visible UV ink - which will remain on the skin for 48 hours - to prevent repeat polling.

An Associated Press story has more details about the Zarqawi audiotape:

The speaker says democracy is based on un-Islamic beliefs and behaviors such as freedom of religion, rule of the people, freedom of expression, separation of religion and state, forming political parties and majority rule.

The speaker says people who vote are "infidels" and that Islam requires the rule of God.

By their own admission, Iraqi terrorists are hostile to every civil right guaranteed by our Constitution, especially those most cherished by the left. So, how will liberals react? John Hawkins at Right Wing News has a suggestion:

[D]on't you think all the left-wingers who snickered when George Bush said the terrorists, "hate our freedoms -- our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each other," owe him an apology?

Even the Associated Press may be coming around. They still (wrongly) call terrorists "insurgents," but no longer pretend Zarqawi's fighting the occupation nor that he speaks for Iraqis:

The insurgency in Iraq is largely fought by extremists from the Sunni Arab minority, a community that lost influence and privilege with the fall of their patron Saddam Hussein.

And both John Hawkins' analysis and the AP admission are reflected in a new poll:

According to a public opinion survey in Iraq taken in early January, more than 90 percent of Iraqis believe it is important to vote in the election. A total of 82.9 percent said it was "very important," and 9.4 percent said it was "somewhat important."

The breakdown along religious lines shows 70.1 percent of Sunnis listing very important and 15.9 percent listing somewhat. A total of 86 percent of Sunnis, therefore, believe the election is important to the future of Iraq.

Sunnis make up about 20 percent of Iraq's population. They were the dominant group under the former regime. Some Sunni groups have called for Sunnis to boycott the election, but this poll seems to show that the calls are not effective.

In Shiia communities – the largest in Iraq, with about 60 percent of the population – 91.1 percent believe the election is very important and 5.5 percent say it is somewhat important. Shiia leader Grand Ayatollah Sistani has called on all Shiia to vote in the election. He has a slogan, "Vote or Die" that has struck a chord with the Shiia population.

The survey contacted almost 2,000 Iraqis from all parts of the country. An Iraqi company conducted the poll, which has a margin of error of plus or minus three points.

And there was more good news this weekend:

A top lieutenant of al-Zarqawi's terror group, Sami Mohammed Ali Said al-Jaaf, also known as Abu Omar al-Kurdi, was arrested during a raid in Baghdad on Jan. 15, a government statement said Monday.

Al-Jaaf was responsible for 32 car bombings that killed hundreds of Iraqis and was linked to the August 2003 bombing of U.N. headquarters in Baghdad that killed the top U.N. envoy in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, and 21 others, the statement said.

The suspect "confessed to building approximately 75 percent of the car bombs used in attacks in Baghdad since March 2003," Allawi spokesman Thaer al-Naqib said in the statement.

Remind me why Democrats are convinced Iraq's a quagmire? Oh, right: 'cause the media says so. Yet, the Iraqi people don't agree. It's time for leftists to reconsider. And to choose: democracy or Islamo-fascisim?

(via RightPundit, twice)

More:

NRO's Jonah Goldberg agrees:

In short, the notion that America is in a war for freedom over tyranny has elicited bipartisan snickering and guffawing. In the wake of Bush's inaugural, the chorus of complaints intensified. And understandably so, given the fact that his address was the most forceful articulation of his "freedom" vision to date.

But before the cackles could reach their crescendo, the naysayers hit an inconvenient snag. Musab al-Zarqawi, the "prince" of al Qaeda in Iraq, appointed by Osama Bin Laden, came out and agreed with President Bush. "We have declared a fierce war on this evil principle of democracy and those who follow this wrong ideology," Zarqawi declared in a statement. "Democracy is also based on the right to choose your religion," he said, and that is "against the rule of God."

You can almost hear Cohen and Buchanan snapping their pencils "Darn it, stop stepping on my message!"

Zarqawi's declaration came after a statement by bin Laden himself in December, in which he pronounced: "Anyone who participates in these elections has committed apostasy against Allah." . . .

Those who pooh-pooh the notion that our enemies hate freedom believe that such ideologically totalitarian movements can exist within their own borders indefinitely. All we have to do is treat them like a hornet's nest and don't upset them (no matter that they topple their own governments and seek ever more conquests).

Unfortunately, we live in a world where a bunch of antidemocratic and homicidal zealots can make life dangerous for all of us. "Not our fight," the president's critics seem to say. But if they're wrong, thousands or millions could die as a result. And, like it or not, that fight is in Iraq right now.