Why I Love Tony Blair

Tony Blair on Iraq and Our Complacency

One thing I really like about this speech is how Mr. Blair points out how the minority is causing trouble in Iraq. He says, "The current upsurge in violence has not spread throughout Iraq. Much of Iraq is unaffected and most Iraqis reject it. The insurgents are former Saddam sympathisers, angry that their status as 'boss' has been removed, terrorist groups linked to al-Qaeda and, most recently, followers of the Shia cleric, Muqtada-al-Sadr."

It is very hard for Americans to make judgements on the mindset of an entire country. What do we know about what is going on over there besides what we are told by our media? What do we know of all the advancements being made that Mr. Blair mentioned, the banks, the growing economy, the growing equality, the possibility of advancement in education? We see the extremists, the terrorists, running around, ambushing our troops, abducting our citizens, but what does the average citizen say? What of those who lost family members to Sadaam's regime, those women who are just now realizing their rights? What of those who long for unity and peace?

Mr. Blair says the terrorists realize what these attacks in Iraq do to our mindset:

"They know it is a historic struggle. They know their victory would do far more than defeat America or Britain. It would defeat civilisation and democracy everywhere. They know it, but do we? The truth is, faced with this struggle, on which our own fate hangs, a significant part of Western opinion is sitting back, if not half-hoping we fail, certainly replete with schadenfreude at the difficulty we find."

If we pull out of Iraq now, what then? Will we watch as a nation crumbles in on itself, so close to freedom and democracy, eaten alive by extremism and terrorism? What will the world think of us then, as we turn our back on what is our responsibility? Regardless of what we may have thought going into the war, the truth is that the rebuilding of Iraq is our responsibility now, and we must see it done. Peace will not come to Iraq if we abandon it now.

"...Have we the stomach to see it through?"

via Drudge Report