Thinking the 'unthinkable'

Even after the success of last week's constitutional referendum, it is routine to hear that Iraq's emerging democracy is "lost." The policy recommendations of those who say this might vary, but the desire to abort Iraqis precipitately is plain. This has only contributed to losing Iraq to the extremists. The defeatists are aided in this effort by a stampede of former supporters of the war who, having seen the arduous work ahead, have defected from the cause. Though they credit their conversion to "conscience," the abandonment of Iraq to fascists seems more a spectacle in abject political cowardice. \nThere is a legitimate debate about the American strategy in Iraq. But how often does one hear that the war is winnable and also must be won? As a candidate for president, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., announced his intention to pursue a "victory strategy" in Iraq. But that was then. Today, Americans seem to observe events abroad as if they were evaluating the progress, or lack thereof, as detached spectators. It is astonishing how so many people allow themselves to imagine or (at their worst) hope a rapid withdraw from Iraq would be a defeat "merely" for the Bush administration instead of for civilization itself.\nIn this country's first uphill struggle, Gen. George Washington was fond of quoting his favorite play, "Cato," by the English writer Joseph Addison: "Tis not in mortals to command success, but we'll do more, Sempronious, we'll deserve it."\nThe lines are again drawn. Those who joined Iraqis in liberating their country have committed to turn up their sleeves for battle. Those who thought this battle was unworthy of their support from the beginning have been enormously flippant about its stakes. It should not come as a surprise that those who once boldly declared the president's policy would be far more acceptable if it could be guaranteed to produce victory in advance have now wearied of the fight.\nWill the project in Iraq end in tears? This cannot be answered now and is also the wrong question, one whose final answer rests in hands not our own. As mere mortals, all we can do is act as if we deserve better than defeat at the hands of such a barbarous adversary. This mindset must now form the centerpiece of our "deserving victory strategy" in Iraq. Those who have forsaken this strategy now explain their position as one of dissenting bravery. As long as Iraq is not lost, as it is not yet, there will be many ways to describe their ilk. Bravery, I dare say, is not one of them. \nThe irrefutable point, which opponents of the war love to skirt, is that Iraq cannot afford to be lost. The consequences of defeat do not bear consideration, except in one respect. Every decent American should shudder at the thought of this enemy attaining victory in Iraq. Such a result would turn Iraq into a launching pad for a pan-Islamic superstate. This is why the long-term security of peoples well beyond Iraq has come to increasingly depend on the mission's outcome.