Kowabunga

There has been a great deal of speculation written in the brief time since it was announced that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi met his past due end on Wednesday. Ranging from calls to withdrawal our troops from Iraq, leaving the Iraqi people to manage their own national security, to his most likely successor of Zarqawi, Egyptian-born Abu al-Masri.

I am a far cry from fluent on many of these issues; we have military experts in Iraq, working hard to bring the Iraqi military up to snuff so that they can secure their nation. From what I have read, and based on the terrorist attacks that plague Iraq, it doesn’t sound like they are ready to be abandoned by the U.S.

Should America draw down our forces there, the terrorist thugs running amuck in Iraq will claim it a great victory, and will be emboldened to escalate the violence. The perception that an American withdrawal will convey is that the U.S. is weak, and lacks the will to win. America and the Coalition of the Willing needs to stay the course in Iraq and Afghanistan. Only through victory can peace be achieved.

The only thing the terrorist thugs understand, and respect, is the use of strength. Only through the use of military might can we defeat the terrorists. Pulling out of Iraq will only result in the collapse of all that has been achieved in the Middle East since the jihadists declared war on Western Civilization on September 11, 2001.

The combined armed forces of the Coalition of the Willing, our many allies, have liberated both Afghanistan and Iraq, and are actively helping them form new governments based on democracy and individual rights; and are training their military and police forces in preparation to secure their nations, and serve their people.

Since the fall, and subsequent capture of Saddam Hussein, the jihadists in Iraq have staged many attacks against police stations and recruitment facilities. Ironically, despite the risks of being killed in one of these attacks, patriotic Iraqis continue to sign up and serve their country.

Zarqawi is dead; this is, like the liberation of Afghanistan and Iraq, the capture of Hussein, or the death of Hussein’s sons, one more victory in the Global War on Terror. It is a significant victory as Zarqawi had contacts, recourses, and charisma, that will be hard to be replaced. And any who should vie to replace him now know what fate awaits them: an F16 air strike dropping a 500-pound bomb on their heads. Let us hope that such a fate does not take overlong to be delivered up.

It is not just the internal jihadist terrorist groups that the developing Iraqi security forces must be trained to deal with before they can stand on their own; there is also the threat of the fascistic-theocratic neighbor, Iran, which is moving closer to achieving nuclear arms, despite their claims they have no interest in developing such weapons. It wasn’t long ago that North Korea had also claimed they were only interested in nuclear energy, and not developing weapons. We have since learned the folly of listening to totalitarian dictators such as Kim Jong Il, and their leftist lapdogs here in America (like former President Jimmy Carter).

Abandoning Iraq would have grave consequences, not just for the people of Iraq, but also for the entire region. Staying the course in both Iraq and Afghanistan is the only path toward victory and stabilizing that part of the world.

Tags:
Zarqawi
War on Terror
Military