<$BlogRSDUrl$>

My personal musings about anything that gets on my radar screen--heavily dominated by politics.

2005-01-31

Did I Actually Read This??

From today's WaPo lead editorial:

For the emerging democratic regime to have any chance of taking root, U.S. soldiers will have to continue fighting, and dying, to protect it. The elections probably won't make their job any easier, or the price any lower, in the short term. Yesterday, however, Americans finally got a good look at who they are fighting for: millions of average people who have suffered for years under dictatorship and who now desperately want to live in a free and peaceful country. Their votes were an act of courage and faith -- and an answer to the question of whether the mission in Iraq remains a just cause.

Is there any way to read this as other than an endorsement of the war?? "an answer to the question of whether the mission in Iraq REMAINS a just cause"?? So, not only was this once a just cause, but it is still a just cause?

At the same time, this rings as a repudiation of Ted Kennedy's call for a rapid withdrawal--"will have to continue fighting".

Remarkable. Was it matched by the New York Times?? Let's have a look.

Courageous Iraqis turned out to vote yesterday in numbers that may have exceeded even the most optimistic predictions. . . But even in some predominantly Sunni areas, turnout was higher than expected. And in an impressive range of mainly Shiite and Kurdish cities, a long silenced majority of ordinary Iraqis defied threats of deadly mayhem to cast votes for a new, and hopefully democratic, political order.

That is a message that all but the most nihilistic of the armed insurgents will have to accept. . .

Yet all who claim to be fighting in the name of the Iraqi people should now recognize that - in an open expression of popular will - Iraqis have expressed their clear preference that these battles be fought exclusively in the peaceful, constitutional arena.

Yet today, along with other Americans, whether supporters or critics of the war, we rejoice in a heartening advance by the Iraqi people.

And so on. Of course, those who have read this know that the editorial is actually quite a bit longer -- I just edited out all of the petulant little sideswipes at the administration.

The grudging admission from the likes of the New York Times, the genuine acknowledgement from the Post, and the pictures that (if the Denver dailies are any indication) adorn the front pages of the major papers should get the information through to the American public that THIS WORKED. In a little while, it will sink through to them that this success is a credit to the President and U.S. armed forces.

But mostly, this is a triumph for the Iraqi people and for the idea--unapologetically asserted by the President--that given the choice people will always choose freedom. Even when it could cost them their lives.
Posted by: Michael / 1/31/2005 06:09:00 PM

Weblog Commenting by HaloScan.com

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?