Henry Lamb has a column that puts things into perspective. He starts out by pointing out when bin Laden declared war:
The United States is at war. It is a war we neither wanted, nor started. In fact, we didn't even notice when it was declared. On Feb. 23, 1998, Osama bin Laden declared war on the United States. In his infamous fatwah, he says:
The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies – civilians and military – is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it, in order to liberate the al-Aqsa Mosque [in Jerusalem] and the holy mosque from their grip, and in order for their armies to move out of all the lands of Islam, defeated and unable to threaten any Muslim.
Lurking behind what is called "religion" is a grotesque ideology that envisions all people living under the command and control of a tiny handful of men who dictate every facet of human life. To these people, anyone who chooses to live outside the dictatorship of their supreme spiritual leader is an infidel, worthy only of death. Individual freedom is a concept that cannot be allowed to penetrate this ideology.
Looks like getting out of Iraq will not solve this problem. Jersusalem seems to be the focus.
Lamb then draws a distinction between this war and previous wars:
America is at war, not with a country or an individual, but with an ideology far more evil and anti-freedom than communism, imperialism or any other "ism" that has ever confronted us. In the past, the ideology we fought was personified by a nation, whose army wore uniforms and boasted a flag. The current enemy is not as easily identified. The current enemy wears no uniform, waves no flag and could be your next-door neighbor.
Afghanistan and Iraq are simply different theaters in the same war. London, Madrid, Bali, New York and a dozen other places are all different theaters in the same war declared on "America and its allies. ..."
Lamb’s ending tells us not to surrender:
What's happening in Iraq at this moment is critical to the defense of freedom as part of the war declared by bin Laden. America must do whatever is required to give the people of Iraq a chance to build some form of representative government that can escape the grasp of Islamic fanatics. There is no guarantee, of course, that the people will throw off the absolute control of the fanatic leadership – but there is hope, and there is substantial promise.
If the U.S. withdraws its forces prematurely, there is no hope. The only promise would be that the fanatics would regain control of Iraq. The war would not be over; it would only intensify. The horrendous ideology of "death to infidels" will have won a major battle, and Iraq will become a boiling pot of terror spilling over into American life around the world.
America must fight this enemy wherever it is -- and win.
Read the whole thing.
