An excellent piece in today’s WSJ Opinion Journal:
Millions of Iraqis will risk their lives today to endorse their new constitution, but it’s a measure of American defeatism that the vote is already being dismissed in many quarters as a mirage on the road to inevitable civil war. On the contrary, we’d say the vote is further evidence that the Iraq mission still has every chance of succeeding.
The expected approval is certainly a triumph for Iraqi political leaders, who have been underestimated by everyone, including too often by the Bush Administration. Going back to the Governing Council, most Iraqi politicians have displayed both wisdom and a spirit of compromise. Yes, there have been feuds and acts of brinksmanship along the way. Name a government where there aren’t such public spectacles, and you’ll find a dictatorship.
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The other big danger is that U.S. media and political pessimism will further erode American public support for the war. The attitude among some can only be described as defeatist. When General Casey and other Defense officials testified recently before the Senate Armed Services Committee, their measured reports were drowned out by criticism and gloom.
In response to one such riff from Senator Hillary Clinton, General Casey put it this way: “Your comments on the insurgency, on the levels of violence, I recognize that that is what it appears, but that is what the terrorists and insurgents are trying to convey. They’re trying to convey that they are winning, and they’re doing it by murdering innocent Iraqis. . . .
“And it’s a tough situation. But that’s what a terror campaign is all about. And this is about political will. And as I said in my opening statement, they are attacking ours and the will of the Iraqi people. They’re not winning in Iraq, and they will only win here if we lose our will.”
And don’t miss today’s interview with Gen. David Patraeus.
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