Eventually, will even the kook left have to admit they were wrong about Iraq?
The streets of Baghdad are back in business. The teashops are busy. The shops and markets are bustling.
After years when there seemed to be no end to the city’s trauma, people are feeling more confident.
Why, even property prices in Baghdad are rising. According to one estate agent we spoke to, they have doubled in the past four months.
Yes, things are better in Baghdad.
But before we get too carried away, it is important to stress that the improvements, while real, are plainly very brittle.
As US officials readily concede, comments about “breakthroughs” and “corners being turned” are premature…
…it was not simply American force of arms which made the difference.
The US commander in Iraq, Gen David Petraeus, adopted a new approach.
It is instructive to read the “Commander’s Counterinsurgency Guidance” which was issued recently to all US forces in Iraq.
These are some of the headings:
“Serve the population: give them respect: gain their support.”
“Live among the people: you can’t commute to this fight.”
“Walk: stop by, don’t drive by: patrol on foot and engage the population.”
“Promote reconciliation: we cannot kill our way out of this endeavour.”
By and large, that is what the Americans have attempted to do and, by and large, it appears to be working.
From a peak last summer, when security incidents were occurring at the rate of well over 1,000 a week, there has been a steady decline until now they are, according to the Americans, at their lowest point for four years.
Our magnificent troops under an inspired commander and working side by side with Iraqis who want a chance to live and build in a free Iraq have been doing what the left – led by Obama and his Democrats – said was impossible. In fact, Obama and his Democrats were assuring us 18 months ago not that things were bad, but that the game was up and the only thing for us to do was run out of Iraq with our tail between our legs…admit we were whipped by a ragged bunch of terrorists and run-of-the-mill criminal goons. Nothing doing said John McCain – we needed to double down and show what we can do when we set our mind and our magnificent military to the task. The rest, as they say, is history.
The cowardice, opportunism and rank defeatism of the Democrats since 2007 should convince everyone that they must be kept from the levers of power. While John McCain has his flaws – as we all do, being human – and while the GOP can (and must) improve itself mightily, the plain fact of the matter is that McCain and the GOP are far more capable of exercising American power than Obama and his Democrats are.
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