The Big One

Tom Friedman has the right answer to those who say that "the U.S. invasion of Iraq is a failure because all it's doing is attracting terrorists to Iraq and generating more hatred toward America."

The truth is exactly the opposite.

We are attracting all these opponents to Iraq because they understand this war is The Big One. They don't believe their own propaganda. They know this is not a war for oil. They know this is a war over ideas and values and governance. They know this war is about Western powers, helped by the U.N., coming into the heart of their world to promote more decent, open, tolerant, women-friendly, pluralistic governments by starting with Iraq — a country that contains all the main strands of the region: Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds.

In short, America's opponents know just what's at stake in the postwar struggle for Iraq, which is why they flock there: beat America's ideas in Iraq and you beat them out of the whole region; lose to America there, lose everywhere.

But, Friedman cautions:

We may fail, but not because we have attracted terrorists who understand what's at stake in Iraq. We may fail because of the utter incompetence with which the Pentagon leadership has handled the postwar. (We don't even have enough translators there, let alone M.P.'s, and the media network we've set up there to talk to Iraqis is so bad we'd be better off buying ads on Al Jazeera.) ... We may fail because to win The Big One, we need an American public, and allies, ready to pay any price and bear any burden, but we have a president unable or unwilling to summon either.

Ouch. I think Friedman's criticism that the Pentagon needs to do a better job is appropriate. But I wouldn't single out the president here. I also think that most of the Democrats and Friedman's colleagues in the media are doing their best to undermine not only the president but also public support for winning the Big One.

At the same time, I think some of Friedman's arguments and criticisms also apply to the administration's silly and half-hearted attempts to install Abu Mazen as the solution to Palestinian terrorism.

Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at August 24, 2003 10:46 AM