Go "W!"

Finally! President Bush has come out swinging in defense of the bold path he has set us on in the Middle East. He has presented a strong argument explaining why reshaping the Middle East is critical to both the U.S. and all humanity. He points out that the terrorists see Iraq for what it is,

“…Zawahiri writes that al Qaeda views Iraq as, quote, "the place of the greatest battle." The terrorists regard Iraq as the central front in their war against humanity. We must recognize Iraq as the central front in our war against the terrorists.”

Iraq is the central front in the war on terror and the President’s message is that the United States needs to show resolve and finish the job. I am reminded of a Ronald Reagan radio commentary (p. 58) discussing red China’s view of the United States in the late 1970’s. First he quotes their Foreign Minister:

“Go read American history, we have not seen such an instance in which the U.S. has had such resolve and courage to sacrifice for others. That is why we dare to conclude that the U.S. is a paper tiger.”
-Former China Foreign Minister Huang Hua, delivered in secret July 30 1977

And then comments himself:

“Now that isn’t the picture we have of ourselves and history (overall) does not support Huangs, image of us. But we should note the examples from recent history he used to support his view; the firing of McArthur in Korea because he wanted to win the war and our failure to be decisive in Vietnam… There is great danger to us in this false image making. It is more often than not the road to war.”
-Ronald Reagan, “China.” From his syndicated radio show April 3, 1978

Is there any doubt that the message being sent by today’s Democratic party and the antiwar left is that the U.S. lacks resolve? What message do they want to present to the world in their attempt to rewrite their post Sept. 11th views? The point has not been lost on Al Qaeda as the President notes from a letter from Zawahiri, “he points to the Vietnam War as a model for al Qaeda. This is what he said. "The aftermath of the collapse of American power in Vietnam and how they ran and left their agents is noteworthy."

The President is absolutely right to call out these critics on their hypocrisy on the decision to invade Iraq. He notes that over 100 Democrats in the House and Senate voted to give him the power to go to war based on the same intelligence the administration had. Dissent is fine and healthy, but especially in the total vacuum from the left on alternatives to the current course, Democrats need to seriously consider what message they are sending to the outside world with their revisionist version of the decision to go to war.