The Democrats One Two Conundrum

UPDAT: While this was originally written in August, the contents remain true today.

There are two things that are obvious and undeniable about Iraq. One the Democrats realize all to well and it drives their every action. The other they either don't realize, don't care about, or just simply ignore in their pursuit of the first.

The first undeniable thing about Iraq is that it will either way define Bush's legacy. If Iraq is a failure then so is Bush's legacy, and if on the other hand, Iraq becomes a stable democracy, at peace with itself and its neighbors, and an ally in the war on terror, then history will be very kind to him. That's why Harry Reid declared the war lost just as the surge began. It's why Representative Clyborn said that a positive report by General Petraeus would be bad for the Democrats. It's why John Murtha continues to insist that the violence will only stop when our troops pull out of Iraq. Even today Senator Obama insisted that the war in Iraq is taking us away from the real war.

The President would have us believe that every bomb in Baghdad is part of al Qaeda's war against us, not an Iraqi civil war. He elevates al Qaeda in Iraq -- which didn't exist before our invasion -- and overlooks the people who hit us on 9/11, who are training new recruits in Pakistan. He lumps together groups with very different goals: al Qaeda and Iran, Shiite militias and Sunni insurgents. He confuses our mission.And worse -- he is fighting the war the terrorists want us to fight. Bin Ladin and his allies know they cannot defeat us on the field of battle or in a genuine battle of ideas. But they can provoke the reaction we've seen in Iraq: a misguided invasion of a Muslim country that sparks new insurgencies, ties down our military, busts our budgets, increases the pool of terrorist recruits, alienates America, gives democracy a bad name, and prompts the American people to question our engagement in the world.

While all these politicians continue to insist that the President is confusing the issue, to me it is them that are confused.

The second point, the one they won't admit, won't recognize or simply ignore, is that the fate of the war on terror rests with the fate of the war in Iraq. If Iraq does become a stable democracy, at peace with itself, it's neighbors, and an ally in the war on terror, then the whole direction of the war on terror drives in our favor. Iran's entire position is weakened. They no longer have the leverage to confront the world on nukes and every other issue they currently think is a winner. Al Qaeda loses all its leverage. They can no longer claim the we the United States are a paper tiger. All their bombs and terror wind up accomplishing nothing but killing fellow Muslims. Iran and Syria have a stable Democracy on their border.

Unfortunately for the Democrats, the fate of the President they loathe and the country are tied up in the same conflict. If it wasn't they might actually do what is right for the country not what is wrong for the President, but alas we have the world of politics. Still, whether they choose to ignore reality or not leaving Iraq will leave a hornet's nest, a hornet's nest that won't only unleash in Iraq but the rest of the Middle East and then the world, and we, the United States, will have to come back there to an even bloodier fight.

Senator Obama makes a point that I am sure is great red meat for his primary audience but it is also irrelevant. Whether or not AQI was in Iraq prior to our arrival is totally irrelevant. The idea that they aren't completely tied to AQ in Pakistan completely ignores everything our enemy says. More than that AQI cuts off fingers for smoking. The rape and beat women if they put the wrong vegetables together in their bags, and they invite families to dinner only to serve their children's heads on a platter. Whatever they are, they are terrorists, the worst sort of evil, and our enemies in the war on terror. Removing ourselves from a battlefield in which our military is engaged with the exact enemy we are fighting in this war is well, no way to win the war.

What is obvious to any objective observer would be obvious to the Democrats. If that is it wasn't tied up so much in the success of a President they hate