The State of Iraq's Union
By Isaiah Z. Sterrett (02/03/05)
ASIDE FROM THE terrific story of the Slovak man who literally urinated his way out of an avalanche, the Iraqi election is arguably this week’s, this month’s, greatest story of human accomplishment. Nations with a checkmark next to them now include Germany, Japan, Russia, and Iraq. Reagan would have been so proud.
Last week was sadly besmirched by more bile from Ted Kennedy, who’s apparently now taking lessons in bloviation from ex-Klansman Robert C. Byrd. Kennedy loves democracy so much that he wanted to commemorate its historic spread by demanding that 12,000 U.S. troops — or more, for good measure — flee the scene and forget the whole mess ever happened. At least he’s finally started discussing things he knows about.
In truth, the people of Iraq took the election much better than Teddy Kennedy did. Despite the New York Times’ dire warning of “a poorly prepared election conducted in an atmosphere of escalating violence and lawlessness,” Iraqis proved themselves much more resilient than liberals in America expected. Ali Fadel, Baghdad’s new mayor, says he wants to erect a statue to numbskull imperialist cowboy George W. Bush, noting that Bush “is the symbol of freedom." The stupid Iraqi has evidently not yet discovered Washington’s fiendish plot to steal his oil and transform his country into a Jewish paradise. (Does anyone still believe this meshugas?)
More Iraqis turned out to vote than anyone expected. Liberals could not possibly have predicted such an overwhelming show of manpower, because they thought all the Iraqis — and all the troops now valiantly protecting them — would be dead by now. Liberals like to pick on Republicans because we said there were WMD in Iraq (there were), but their half-baked predictions are supposed to be forgotten. Note to the Left: they’re not. We remember, even if you don’t.
And the ungodly infatuation with opposing President Bush continues. Columnist Bob Herbert’s still at it, now claiming that, in spite of the lovely little election thingy, “there was no respite from the carnage.” Why is that necessary? Millions of people bravely defied terrorism to exercise their newfound voting rights, and there’s Bob Herbert, hooting at them.
It’s understandable that John Kerry would be a bit soured on this election business (thank you, Ohio), but Harry Reid really has no excuse. Neither does Nancy Pelosi. For these two embarrassments to come out and harangue Bush about an “exit strategy” is outlandish. To repeat: we just had an election in Iraq. Iraq used to be in the “Axis of Evil.” What was once grouped with Iran and North Korea is now grouped with Japan, Russia, and Germany. I believe perhaps Bush’s favorite saying — “freedom is on the march” — may have some truth to it.
Liberals pride themselves on being able to turn to the families of fallen soldiers for political help, but even that hasn’t gone well for them of late. “To see the Iraqi people thumbing their nose at insurgents and terrorists and saying, 'We're going to go vote,'” said Nelson Carman who lost his twenty-year old son in Iraq, “there's a sense of pride and yet it can be sobering."
It’s astounding that a person who lost a child could be more rational than, say, the House Democratic leader. Nancy Pelosi has a job she’ll never lose, money, and fame, but she lacks the sense of Nelson Carman, whose son is now deceased. What, pray tell, does that say about our friends in the Democratic Party? They may be even more unhinged than we thought.
It is a fact, contrary to all the nonsense emanating from liberal circles, that Iraq is an achievement that even Bush couldn’t have imagined. Who would have thought, honestly, that the elections could have possibly gone so well? You can say you were optimistic, but nobody thought 60% would come out to vote. Nobody thought the purple-fingered citizenry would dance merrily in the streets. Nobody thought terrorists would be held back as spectacularly as they were. And nobody thought George Bush would be proved so awesomely right.
One shudders at the prospect of what a President Kerry would have done prior to January 30. Would elections have occurred? Would terrorists ‘round the world be shivering in fear? Doubtful, on both counts. If Kerry was president, we’d be at the U.N.—or a fun summit in France. That’s “democracy” to a Democrat.
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