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Politics : American Presidential Politics and foreign affairs -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: KLP who wrote (9353)	6/13/2006 4:22:07 PM
From: Peter Dierks	Respond to of 71588

In the FMSM rush to judge anything that might harm the President, they seem to forget about media blunders like Eason Jordan and the lying Dan Rather.

To: KLP who wrote (9353)	6/17/2006 9:13:55 PM
From: Peter Dierks	Respond to of 71588

"Our objective in Iraq is victory." BY L. PAUL BREMER Thursday, June 15, 2006 12:01 a.m. EDT George Bush made his trip to Baghdad, he told the new prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, "to look you in the eye." Yet his surprise visit established more than a first-hand connection. It signposted the dramatic events of the past week, which bode well both for Iraq's future and for the broader war on terrorism. As he stood in the hall of one of Saddam's former palaces--quite literally in the eye of the storm--Mr. Bush implored the Iraqis to "seize the moment." There are now emerging indications that they are doing just that. Thanks to the efforts of the men and women of America's military, the prayers of millions of Iraqis were answered with the death of al Qaeda's "prince" in Iraq. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was responsible for the gruesome murder of thousands of innocent Iraqis. He supported al Qaeda's goal of killing Americans and himself beheaded a number of our citizens on video. Experience with terrorist groups over the past 30 years suggests that his death will help the war on terrorism in three ways. First, taking a terrorist leader off the board has symbolic importance. Terrorist groups are cult-like and depend on a charismatic leader for inspiration. The ramifications of Zarqawi's death go beyond Iraq because of the stakes in the broader war which al Qaeda has declared on the West. With bin Laden in hiding, Zarqawi has been al Qaeda's most important operative. Now he is gone. Second, the incident will exacerbate internal tensions inside al Qaeda. Terrorist organizations are secretive to the point of paranoia. The tip that led us to Zarqawi came from within his organization. This is sure to concern the remaining killers. Which of their colleagues can they trust? In the past such uncertainty has led to devastating internecine squabbling, even war, inside terrorist groups. And intelligence tips from the Iraqi people have increased tenfold in the past year, suggesting that they are fed up with terrorist atrocities. Third, the death of a terrorist leader has a serious impact on the operational effectiveness of the group, at least in the short term. Group members lack direction; various men struggle to become the new leader. Paranoia and uncertainty will, at a minimum, crimp their ability to conduct a strategy of coordinated attacks. But while Zarqawi's death is an important milestone, it is not victory. There will certainly be more violence and terrorism. Al Qaeda is still in Iraq; these killers from the outside have a simple vision for this country, which is to impose by force a Taliban-like extremist government that would support terrorism worldwide. Then there are the Iraqi insurgents, almost exclusively Sunnis. Killers from Saddam's intelligence and security forces, these men have a different, but equally clear, vision for Iraq. They want to shoot their way back into power and install a Saddam-like dictatorship. They share al Qaeda's hatred of democracy, have engaged in some operational coordination with the terrorists, and have given them safe haven. Finally, Shiite militia have contributed to the violence. This is a new phenomenon of the past two years--during the 14 months I was in Iraq, the coalition confirmed fewer than 100 deaths attributable to sectarianism. Zarqawi's stated objective was to provoke a sectarian war between Shiites and Sunnis: He considered all Shiites to be apostates and killed Shiite men, women and children indiscriminately. When the coalition and nascent Iraqi security forces proved unable to stop these attacks, some Shiites turned to their illegal militia. They have been guilty of some horrible acts of revenge. Despite this terrorism and violence, Iraq has made impressive political progress. Two years ago, in an extraordinary letter, Zarqawi told his followers that democracy was coming to Iraq and that there was no place for them in a democratic Iraq. When the Iraqis held three elections last year, Zarqawi's fear and hatred of democracy was captured in his blunt message to them: "You vote, you die." So every Iraqi who went to the polls was risking his or her life. Yet in the elections on Dec. 15, voter turnout was higher than in any American presidential election in 130 years. It is hard to imagine a more dramatic example of national courage. By fortunate coincidence, the day Zarqawi died, Mr. Maliki took another important step by completing his cabinet. And in his meetings with President Bush on Tuesday, the prime minister laid out his program. He confirmed his government's intention to prosecute the war to victory. He reiterated that the illegal militia must be brought under central government control. He spoke of reconciliation among Iraqis, while his ministers of defense and interior made stirring calls for unity, stressing their intention to "work for all Iraqis." The key to success in Iraq is providing security; and the key to security is defeating the Sunni insurgency. This will deny al Qaeda important support and remove the excuse Shiite militia have for taking action into their own hands. It will give the government the opportunity to rebuild the economy and to continue on the path to full democracy. What is needed is a military campaign to defeat the insurgents. The campaign plan should determine subsidiary questions of the number, type and deployment of coalition forces. The prime minister's announcement Wednesday of a major operation to secure Baghdad may be the first step in such a plan. We should seize the opportunity now to provide all possible support to the Iraqi government. President Bush said at his press conference that ultimate success depends on the Iraqis, and that is true. But he was also right to stress that we will do what is necessary to enable that success. Some in America instead speak of setting timetables for the withdrawal of our forces. This would be an historic mistake. Withdrawing our troops before Iraqis can defend themselves would endanger American security by encouraging more terrorism. It would betray the democratic government of Iraq and dishonor the sacrifices of American service men and women. All the audiences to the ongoing drama in Iraq--the Iraqi people, the American people and terrorists everywhere--must understand that our objective in Iraq is victory and that we will do whatever is necessary to prevail. Mr. Bremer was presidential envoy to Iraq and chairman of the bipartisan National Commission on Terrorism. opinionjournal.com