“Time Has Begun to Serve the American Forces”

We solemnly mark the 2,500th American to make the ultimate sacrifice for his/her country in Iraq as part of the larger war against terrorists and the states that harbor and support them. In Baghdad, President Bush defined the mission as being, “to develop a country that can govern itself, sustain itself, and defend itself, and a country that is an ally in the war on terror.” One might debate the modalities and/or time frame, but the mission is an honorable one and success in the mission will benefit the people of Iraq, as well as the U.S. and the broader Middle East.

We solemnly mark the 2,500th American to make the ultimate sacrifice for his/her country in Iraq as part of the larger war against terrorists and the states that harbor and support them. In Baghdad, President Bush defined the mission as being, “to develop a country that can govern itself, sustain itself, and defend itself, and a country that is an ally in the war on terror.” One might debate the modalities and/or time frame, but the mission is an honorable one and success in the mission will benefit the people of Iraq, as well as the U.S. and the broader Middle East.

The late and here-unlamented Abu Musab al-Zarqawi also had a mission, which will, no doubt, pass to his (temporary) successor. In a document found in the so-called-but-not-very-safe house, Zarqawi called for:

1. A war between the Shi’a and the Americans.
2. A war between the Shi’a and the secular population (such as Ayad ‘Alawi and al-Jalabi.)
3. A war between the Shi’a and the Kurds.
4. A war between Ahmad al-Halabi and his people and Ayad ‘Alawi and his people.
5. A war between the group of al-Hakim and the group of al-Sadr.
6. A war between the Shi’a of Iraq and the Sunni of the Arab countries in the Gulf.
7. A war between the Americans and Iraq.

We have noticed that the best… (would be) one between the Americans and Iran.

The mission for al Qaeda, then, is to create the chaotic environment in which terrorism thrives, and that would provide a mechanism for restoring minority Sunni rule to Iraq, decimate Shi’a populations in Iraq and Iran, and bog the Americans down on another front. The last is crucial, because, at least in Iraq, al-Zarqawi admits that, “Time has begun to serve the American forces.”

We hope so; this has already been a very long war. Palestinian Black September first killed American diplomats in 1973; the Iranian war against American interests began in 1979 with the violation of our Embassy and its personnel; Bin Laden’s fatwa was in 1988. Three separate declarations of war by organizations with different theological or nationalist underpinnings, but all emanating from the same swamp in which Western respect for civil liberties, human rights including rights for women, rule of law, progress and tolerance are absent and anathema. Only in 2001 did we understand that our nation was under attack, and in 2003 we entered the Iraqi front of a larger war against oppression and aggression from sources in the Islamic world. It is crucial to the larger war that we redouble our efforts to complete the mission in Iraq and foil al-Zarqawi’s goals.

Iraq and its people have come a long way in this, and have longer to go – but we were pleased with the response of Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki to President Bush. Iraq, he said, “is determined to succeed, and we have to defeat terrorists and defeat all the hardships. God willing, all the suffering will be over and all the soldiers will return to their country with our gratitude for what they have offered, the sacrifice.” Amen.