Sunday, August 26, 2007

Truth Or Consequences


The consequences of an American defeat in Iraq are likely to be even worse
than in Indochina. As Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Al-Qaeda leader in Iraq,
said before he was fortunately killed by a US airstrike: “The shedding of
Muslim blood is allowed in order to disrupt the greater evil of disrupting
jihad.” Islamist revenge on all those Muslims who have tried to build a
better Iraq will be terrible.


Why do the horrors inflicted by Islamic extremists in Darfur seem to appal us,
more than those in Iraq? Because, I suppose, in an orgy of self-deluding
hypocrisy, we prefer to blame the United States. We should grow up.


The horror of Darfur will pale beside the bloodbath in Iraq if we withdraw
before we have done everything possible to enable Iraqi security forces to
defend their country against sectarian horrors. I hope Gordon Brown and his
advisers realise the impression that we are seeking to leave will guarantee
defeat. In global jihad, perception is a more important weapon of war than
ever