IRAQ - THE NEW STRATEGY

In a prime time speech last night President Bush outlined a new strategy concerning American involvement in Iraq. The foremost part of the plan and the most controversial from a political stand point is an increase of 21, 000 troops deployed to the country. Most of that number will be positioned in and around Baghdad which is where 80% of the problem is. President Bush citied that the reason for the increase was that in controlling the sectarian and terrorist violence that is plaguing Iraq, US and Iraqi forces while successfully clearing out insurgents and terrorists in the many provinces in and around the capital city because of an insufficient amount of troops once the area was clear and the troops left these areas were occupied again by insurgents. The increase will allow enough troops to hold these areas preventing a return. The President also called for Iraqi forces and the government to step up to the plate stating that the presence of The United States was not open ended therefore Iraqis will be more involved with US troops embedded as advisors and for support. The President also mentioned an increase of about 4000 to the Anbar Province which is an Al Qaeda strong hold that the terrorist group is attempting to use as a launching area and base for their activities in Iraq and elsewhere.

I am going to take a moment at this point to ramble because of the Al Qaeda presence that is in and has been in Iraq in which those who oppose our mission there and especially liberals have denied and continually avoided in order to spark greater controversy over Iraq. For Al Qaeda to attempt control over one province in the country signifies a strong and a long standing presence in Iraq which is according to those who oppose Iraq the ONLY terrorists or group that we should be fighting regardless of terror states like Iran, and other groups like Hezbollah who all use similar terror tactics and or support groups like Al Qaeda. The left has made it obvious in light of the recent attacks by US forces in Somalia against Al Qaeda of their hypocritical attempts to use Iraq as a political tool rather that supporting an extremely important front in the War on Terror. I have not heard the first complaint by the left over the US presence which includes Special Forces ground troops now in Somalia nor have I heard any protesting by radicals. The claim for this, one can bet, is because we have attacked Al Qaeda yet those same liberals and protesting radicals vilify US presence in Iraq which are also fighting Al Qaeda as well as elements from terror states like Iran. Nor will they accept the fact that has been proven time and again that Al Qaeda presence was in Iraq long before we moved in and the Hussein regime supported them financially and allowed traiming facilities in Iraq.

Now back to the President's new strategy. In addition to the troop increase Bush also added that there will be political benchmarks set for the Iraqi government, expecting the Maliki administration to keep to its commitments and crack down on outlaw tribal leaders who are helping to stir the violence. Strengthening Iraqi territorial sovereignty will also be vital thus taking a stronger stance concerning Iran and Syria and stopping the influx of men and material that enters from these terror states. As a way of supporting this the President has dispatched and additional Carrier Task Group to the region as a warning to Iran especially.

Democrats were quick to jump in with their opposition to the plan with the Democrat response delivered by Senator Dick Durbin who if you recall compared our troops to Nazi SS troops in WWII during a rampage last year on the Senate floor. Durbin stated the Democrat position that the troop increase was the wrong move and we should rather be pulling out of Iraq to force Iraqis to take control of the situation whether they are prepered or not. Most experts agree that this Democrat idea would leave Iraq in anarchy since the US presence is the calming factor despite the current level of violence. Notice also that with this call for pulling out rather than completion of the mission Democrats propose nothing as an alternative, which has been what they have been doing all along.

The Congress has agreed to a non-binding vote for the new strategy which would allow the President's plan to move forward and the opportunity to succeed. Regardless of ones position on Iraq the answer in not a quick fix nor is it a situation that we can abandon as is suggested by the Democrats. To allow Iraq to drift into anarchy and leave the country in a manner that the enemy would consider a defeat of the United Sates will only hand over Iraq to terrorists and embolden groups like Al Qaeda and states like Iran into furthering Islamic radicalism and increasing terrorist activity on a global basis. Iran would in fact dominate the region and the ensuing result would be puppet states under Iranian control with oil and nuclear capability as a bargaining chip to black mail the world. We must and will prevail in Iraq and the revision of strategy that was presented last night places us well on our way to that outcome.

Ken Taylor