February 13, 2007

Ayman al Zawahiri Thanks John Murtha

Allahpundit has this video of John Murtha predicting that the Iraqis will get rid of al Qaeda once we leave. That's an interesting theory you got there Mr. Murtha. Kind of like when we left Vietnam, there was that massive grass-roots movement to get rid of Ho Chi Minh. In fact, it's less of a prediction than it is of a fantasty used to justify retreat.

It's probably on par with the fantasy many had that Iraq would go from dictatorship to liberal democracy within a year or two of the invasion.

It's people like John Murtha who empower al Qaeda to continue fighting because, as I've argued here time and time again, it is only the prospect of success that keeps any military force fighting. And that includes al Qaeda.

It's funny how the guys at al Qaeda understand the American Left's propensity to cut-and-run much better than the average American. There nothing new in this, but here is an underemphasized point made by Ayman Zawahiri, al Qaeda's #2 man, yesterday:

These traitors in Iraq and Afghanistan must face their inevitable fate, and face up to the inescapable facts. America - which was transformed from the “Great Satan” into the “Closest Ally” - is about to depart and abandon them, just as it abandoned their like in Vietnam.

It's funny, really, in that tragic sort of way. Osama bin Laden has been arguing the same thing for over a decade---that America is a "paper tiger", and the Democrats and even some Republicans rush to prove him right.

If I haven't made my position on the Iraq war clear, let me do so now: I do not know whether the decision to invade was a good or bad one. What I do know is that when America engages an enemy--any enemy--we must win. That is, by definition, the default position of all patriots.