Row, Row, Row Your Boat, Gently Up Denial
Charles Krauthammer points out the complete and utter state of denial that exists in the Democratic leadership in Congress and among that party's Presidential contenders. Those folks have a huge emotional investment in losing the war in Iraq that they refuse to even admit that there is any progress there at all. Yet the progress is real, even if some artificial benchmarks have not been met. Because no piece of paper has been signed does not mean the actual goals are not being met. The goals of the benchmarks are being met in practice without the theoretical scrap of paper.
It does not have the drama of the Inchon landing or the sweep of the Union comeback in the summer of 1864. But the turnabout of American fortunes in Iraq over the past several months is of equal moment — a war seemingly lost, now winnable. The violence in Iraq has been dramatically reduced. Political allegiances have been radically reversed. The revival of ordinary life in many cities is palpable. Something important is happening.
And what is the reaction of the war critics? Nancy Pelosi stoutly maintains her state of denial, saying this about the war just two weeks ago: "This is not working. . . . We must reverse it." A euphemism for "abandon the field," which is what every Democratic presidential candidate is promising, with variations only in how precipitous to make the retreat.
How do they avoid acknowledging the realities on the ground? By asserting that we have not achieved political benchmarks — mostly legislative actions by the Baghdad government — that were set months ago. And that these benchmarks are paramount. And that all the current progress is ultimately vitiated by the absence of centrally legislated national reconciliation.
In practice, even absent an oil revenue sharing law, the revenues are, in fact, being distributed. Regional autonomy and a de facto federalism is already in place. People are flocking back to Baghdad even more quickly than they left. All the signs point to a real and sustainable progress that proves the worth of General Petraeus' new strategy. Things have changed in Iraq, the course of events has been altered. Yet the Democrats have bet so heavily against America that they seem to be unable to change their course.
So, just as we have learned this hard lesson of the disconnect between political benchmarks and real stability, the critics now claim the reverse — that benchmarks are what really count.
This is to fundamentally mistake ends and means. The benchmarks would be a wonderful shortcut to success in Iraq. But it is folly to abandon the pursuit of that success when a different route, more arduous but still doable, is at hand and demonstrably working.
Denial may not be a river in Egypt but the Democrats appear to have immersed themselves in it nonetheless.
Other Links to this Post
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Flopping Aces — Friday, 23 November , 2007 @ 1:09 pm
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The Baltimore Reporter — Friday, 23 November , 2007 @ 9:39 pm
By martian, Friday, 23 November , 2007 @ 10:56 am
American success in Iraq, Afghanistan, or anywhere else in the world for that matter is so antithetical to the Democrats’ world view that they cannot accept it. To do so would be to admit that everything they have said and worked for over the past six years is wrong (it is but they can’t admit it). Thus, they are commited swimmers in the river of denial. Unfortunately for them, they are beginning to drown in it.