Our Troops Must Stay America can't abandon 27 million Iraqis to 10,000 terrorists.
by Joe Lieberman
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
The Wall Street Journal

I found this article interesting in today's political climate that Joe Lieberman, who is a well-known Democratic senator from Connecticut, would publicly post this article. It is a very interesting read.

"I have just returned from my fourth trip to Iraq in the past 17 months and can report real progress there. "

Here is a congressman who is actually visiting the area and getting the truth instead of relying upon main stream media to get his information.

"There are many more cars on the streets, satellite television dishes on the roofs, and literally millions more cell phones in Iraqi hands than before. All of that says the Iraqi economy is growing. And Sunni candidates are actively campaigning for seats in the National Assembly. People are working their way toward a functioning society and economy in the midst of a very brutal, inhumane, sustained terrorist war against the civilian population and the Iraqi and American military there to protect it."

Our media fails to report the whole truth. They seem to be hell bent upon sensationalizing of their “stories”. Blood and gore sell. Most of the media also seems to be for the failure of our government and especially of President Bush. United we stand divided we fall.

"In the face of terrorist threats and escalating violence, eight million Iraqis voted for their interim national government in January, almost 10 million participated in the referendum on their new constitution in October, and even more than that are expected to vote in the elections for a full-term government on Dec. 15. Every time the 27 million Iraqis have been given the chance since Saddam was overthrown, they have voted for self-government and hope over the violence and hatred the 10,000 terrorists offer them. Most encouraging has been the behavior of the Sunni community, which, when disappointed by the proposed constitution, registered to vote and went to the polls instead of taking up arms and going to the streets. Last week, I was thrilled to see a vigorous political campaign, and a large number of independent television stations and newspapers covering it."

Giving the right for people to decide their own fate is one of the greatest gifts of modern life. The Iraqi people seem to be voting more and more. To me this is a huge sign of success. The Sunni's going to the polls instead of fighting is a huge step forward.

"Here is an ironic finding I brought back from Iraq. While U.S. public opinion polls show serious declines in support for the war and increasing pessimism about how it will end, polls conducted by Iraqis for Iraqi universities show increasing optimism. Two-thirds say they are better off than they were under Saddam, and a resounding 82% are confident their lives in Iraq will be better a year from now than they are today. What a colossal mistake it would be for America's bipartisan political leadership to choose this moment in history to lose its will and, in the famous phrase, to seize defeat from the jaws of the coming victory. "

If Iraqis who have suffered through so much feel optimistic and have hope for the future how can we as spoiled Americans not join in their hope for a free and peaceful future?

We invaded Iraq on the belief of a terrorist threat. Everyone knew it and agreed with it at the time. This even includes President Clinton who chose to bomb Iraq in 1998. Was our intelligence flawed? We know now that it was but it was what we had. Has the President handled the whole Iraq war properly? I think he has but he has failed in his PR. The President seems to be slow to admit to problems and often comes across wrong, which has been multiplied 100x by the bias media who are out to crucify him.

If we are to be successful we need to stay the course. Fighting about the reasons we went to war is like crying over spilled milk. We went to war and it cannot be undone, but now we need to do the best we can with the situation. Pulling out too soon or announcing our intentions only gives hope to the small numbers of terrorists through out the region. Terrorism can be neutralized. Iraq needs the power to choose its own destiny. It needs to modernize and become a member of the global economy. Economic prosperity reduces terrorism by creating opportunities for education and the accumulation of wealth by employing the masses. People who are educated, employed and fed are far less likely to resort to violence. Like the great Poet Bob Dylan once said, “when you got nothing you got nothing to lose.”