I tuned in to Fox News earlier today to see a John Kerry campaign speech about the �war on terrorism.� After a eulogy for American soldiers (�I speak from experience� the notorious peacenik said) he said that a new policy in the war on terrorism was needed so that �their deaths are not in vain.� This is �a turning point in American foreign policy� he said, �a chance to show the world that we want their respect, not fear� and �a spirit of cooperation, not unilateralism.�
A few hours later, I went the Fox News website to read that Jassim Mohammed Saleh, a former general in Saddam�s National Guard, led Iraqi troops in his old army uniform today as they replaced U.S. Marines in Fallujah. Meanwhile, Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has organized a militia in Najaf responsible for many of the 738 American and 1,200 Iraqi deaths. He has found refuge from our soldiers in mosques and �has gone freely back and forth to nearby Kufa every Friday for the noon prayers for the past three weeks.� A cease-fire restrained our troops for weeks, while the �insurgents� continued their attacks.
As I read about what was is happening in Iraq, I reflected on how wonderful it would be if Kerry�s accusations were true � if the goal of the Bush administration was to unilaterally instill fear in our enemies. The sad reality is that the opposite is true � we are �cooperating� with our opponents, holding back our forces, asking the UN for leadership and begging other nations to send in their forces.
Despite Kerry�s campaign promises, our reward has not been their �respect,� but a growing number of brazen fanatics who cheer at the moral weakness of their enemy and do not hesitate to attack our soldiers and the values we hold sacred � the lives of innocent civilians. In the bizzaro world of post 9/11, the leftist's most scathing vilifications are precisely what we most urgently need, and the conservative's most sincere justifications are the cause of our failures.