If America Leaves Iraq

Beautiful words said in meaningful ways can change the world. All great leaders know this, no matter their political or philosophical stripe. Michael Totten, reporting from Northern Iraq and interviewing the Kurds and Peshmerga Army, quotes Colonol Mudhafer, who says this:

“You should know that Kurds are the main friends of the Americans in the Middle East,” he said. “In the past we had only God and the mountains as friends. But now we want Americans to support us in all matters, to be another mountain. Our Minister of Peshmerga has great relations with the American forces. We are in the same trench and we are fighting the terrorists just like Americans are. It will be in the future this way, also. Not one American person has been wounded in this area. We have a real alliance with America. We are proud of this relationship. We want the American nation to know we are real friends.”

America should be a mountain for people such as these and they have been a moutain. Totten is not so sure.

He worries about being used by the Kurds to get out a message. Probably. He acknowledges this slant and reports what he sees which is enough for me and more than the MSM often provides.

Personally, my heart is with any person sincere in his desire to die for freedom. When you see the pictures of these people who are integrating cultures, languages, religions and genders (go look at the pictures of the "officers club") you see a people not unlike Americans who are managing to melt together for a bigger idea. This is very different than most of the world, including Europe. Europe does not integrate foreigners and any so-called union is really a conglomerate of nationalistic states gluing themselves together for expedience sake. So, yes, I believe the Kurds deserve America's unreserved support. And yes, I believe a nice big American base would be a strategic hedge in a land filled with tension.

The Kurds don't buy the notion that Americans in Iraq cause the tension. Al Jazeera and Democrats do believe this or pretend to believe this. Fundamentally, ignoring American politics (as if that's not the most important factor driving the Democrats) , but for the sake of argument, ignoring American politics, the argument for getting America out of Iraq would be that magic peace would descend if Americans were out.

If Americans leave Iraq what would happen would be chaos and higher gas prices and terrorism on a grander scale and war in the power vacuum and shame for America. What little respect and honor we retained after Vietnam (leaving allies to be slaughtered tends to lower your profile) we would lose. America is resilient, but in a world where strength, resolve and might is everything (even and especially to Europe), leaving and losing will tarnish America and reduce our influence. Of course, that's exactly what the Democrats and the Left really desire. It fulfills multi-culti moral-equivalence fantasies. It ensures eventual destruction.