Babbin vs. Lowry

Jed Babbin and Rich Lowry are both right and wrong as well. Babbin’s Endgame Conservatives know that our War on Terrorism and Islamic-Totalitarianism will not and cannot end until we take the battle to our enemies not only in Iraq, but beyond to Iran and Syria as well. Lowry’s ‘to hell with them Hawks’ are correct that Republicans of all stripes must remain steadfast behind our President’ efforts to democratize Iraq. Endgame Conservatives mistakenly believe that this conflict or any, modern-day conflict can be prosecuted with WWII type force or abandon. ‘To hell with ‘em Hawks’ who think that bringing Democracy to Iraq alone will cause the “Arab Street” in Iran and Syria to rise up and demand the same for themselves, are equally mistaken.

Contrary to Babbin’s contention, the nascent Iraqi democracy IS the center of gravity in this war and the determinative factor of victory or defeat of the larger war. Much to the chagrin of Endgame Conservatives, the geo-political realities of the 21rst Century will not allow the World’s only Superpower to attack Iran, much less Syria, without provocation or an elongated period of international censure and warning. When that time finally arrives, only a strong, self-sufficient and free Iraq will be able to withstand the influx of refugees and political pressures the collapsing Sunni Baathist and Fundamentalist Islamic Shiite regimes will place on their neighbor.

From the beginning of time, the Tigress and Euphrates rivers met at the center of the known world. The Garden of Eden was ground zero then and it remains so today. Twentieth Century Iraq was artificially cobbled together to create a buffer state at the geographic confluence of the Shia, Sunni and Kurdish clans. The sectarian tension we see in Iraq today will surely become exacerbated from both the East and the West when the U.S. does affect regime change in Iran and Syria as part of the Global War on Terror. President Bush was right and remains right in seeing a stable democratic Iraq as the centerpiece to successfully defeating and destroying Radical Islam throughout the broader Middle East.

The real question is not whether one should be a Lowry Republican or a Babbin Republican, but rather how to elect even more Republicans to Congress, so our President will have sufficient political support to see Iraq through and then turn up the heat on these other countries that harbor and support terrorist organizations. Once our military objectives are achieved, it’s the creation of Democracies that will keep these countries from falling back once we leave. Perhaps the Wilsonian policy quagmire we see in Iraq will not be replicated in other Arab countries that are predominantly either Sunni, Shia or Kurd, where the opportunity for insurgents to pit tribe against tribe, clan against clan do not exist to the same degree as they do in the historic center of gravity for Islam, Iraq.

Bush bedeviled again

On the very day that the leader of the Free World concludes an historic nuclear accord with the world’s largest Democracy, one paper choose to feature protesters burning a bedeviled effigy of Bush replete with horns and fangs. One look at the top-of-the-fold picture (Rocky Mountain News, WORLD & NATION 3/3/06) and its no wonder President Bush’s approval ratings are down. Would a simple photograph of the two leaders shaking hands have been asking too much? Like him or not, is it fair to portray the President of the United States of America as the devil just as he successfully negotiates a major international deal that holds the promise of significantly reducing dependence on fossil fuels?
So there are some radicals screaming in the streets of Kolkata, India during Bush’s visit – who cares? So there are some unnamed members of Congress and a couple of energy analysts who are skeptical about the amount of oil that may be conserved – who cares? Surely there will be plenty of time in the future and plenty of newspaper ink to criticize this deal, but can’t these editors give President Bush even one day of recognition for this achievement before succumbing to more incessant Bush-bashing? All this, from a newspaper that endorsed the President’s re-election. Is it any wonder the man’s numbers have fallen off?
With press treatment like this even the anointed Mayor of Denver, St. Hickenlooper would go back to bartending.

P.S. To add insult to injury, in their joint news conference, Bush didn’t even mispronounciate the word “nuclear”.