We often hear that the Iraqis don’t care about their country enough. This statement comes from both sides of the political divide. I’ve heard it from a few Republicans who might otherwise be willing to support the effort, but who have become disenchanted with the fight because of the lack of decisive enduring victory (they were looking for a definite end like we had with initial military operations at the three week mark). I’ve heard it from Democrats who thought Saddam was a prick who deserved the boot, but they’ve gone weak in the knees because of Vietnamitis.

Ignoring that the Iraqi police have been getting killed in a much greater magnitude than our own brave fighting men and women (yet continue to sign up), or that there are many Iraqis who have risked their lives voting or running for public office in the warzone, we thankfully get a few more personal examples of Iraqis who are worth fighting for this week. So hopefully this does a bit to keep things in perspective for you.

Right Wing News has video of a moderate Iraqi explaining the value of the fight. It illustrates how insulting it is to write off an entire population as being incapable of discovering and appreciating freedom simply because they have been taught to lay under a boot heel for many years. He’s more eloquent, while remaining extremely respectful to his own religion, than most I hear on our cable news networks.

The Corner also has the truth from an Iraqi blogger.

The solution of the Iraqi situation cannot be helped by trying to find scapegoats and excuses to run away and escape. The formulae expounded by the Democrats amount to nothing but defeat and escapism. The problem is that this is a situation where defeat is fatal. If anybody thinks that the U.S. can run away this time, and sits safely and happily in tranquil isolation between the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans, is in grave error. Solutions can be found to reduce casualties and expenses, but the strategic involvement of the U.S. in Iraq is a necessary and sufficient condition to avert a disaster the scale of which boggles the mind. A disaster that is infinitely more serious and dangerous than the aftermath of the Vietnam defeat. Because the Vietnamese had a clear objective, i.e. to unify their country and once that this objective had been achieved, they had no more business with the U.S. and the West. In the case of Iraq, the objectives and purposes of the enemy are fundamentally different, as has been expounded “maint fois” by people of the like of Al-Zawahiri et. al.; so many times have we heard Al-Qaeda leaders affirm that they consider Iraq the central front in their International Jihad campaign, and as being the more appropriate battle ground, being in the heart of the Arab world and so near to the holy lands apropos to which they share the sick visions of certain of their western (and non-western) counterparts of Armageddon’s and Apocalypses and all such kinds of nonsense and legend.

See? Some do get it. They seem to get it over there a lot more than they do over here. Unless it’s Iraqi troops being interviewed by CNN who all suspiciously want to see what Obama “has to offer” (hint: he’d offer a wave as he got the hell out and threw your country to the wolves).

Instapundit has links to both the NYT’s coverage of the Battle for Basra and information on Iran’s failed(?) efforts in the south.

Hot Air examines the latest dispatch from embed Michael Yon on why we need to keep the surge going or even expand it!

Ace of Spades also has some more on the NYT’s article. GASP- it’s fair!

As the discussions continued, one stocky Iraqi soldier stepped forward and announced that he was not afraid of the fighters from Jaysh al-Madhi —or JAM as it is called by American military — regardless of the threats.

“In case I see a bad guy I will not arrest him,” the Iraqi soldier said through an American military interpreter. “I will kill him immediately to get revenge for my guys who were lost.”

Willing to fight for their country. Willing to die. Are we willing to continue our efforts so that they have the change to make those sacrifices worth something, or are we still wanting to run home?

Update: QandO has more on Yon.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 11th, 2008 at 9:33 am and is filed under Foreign Policy, Iraq, Terrorism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.