Over the past two days, the commander of American forces in Iraq – General David H. Petraeus – testified before Congress on the state of the war in that fledgling democracy. On the whole, the news was positive – we’ve made gains and the year-old troop surge did in fact keep the situation on the ground from spiraling out of control. Yet, the General acknowledged that there was still much work to be done and winning this war was going to require more sacrifice on the part of the American people.
In response to this honest assessment of the military situation in Iraq, Democrats lined up not to offer support to America’s military men and women during a time of war, but to continue to play politics with American lives, national security and global stability. Hillary Clinton is quoted in the New York Times as saying, “I think it’s time to begin an orderly process of withdrawing our troops.”
I’ve been consistent and clear over the course of this campaign about what’s at stake in Iraq. This war is not about politics but about our security and way of life. This war is winnable and must be won. It must not be won for the glory of victory, but for the sake of all those around the world that long for freedom only to be terrorized by Islamic extremism and the cult of terror that goes with it. While Iraq is but one component in dismantling the global network of Islamic extremism, it is the front-line of a global strategy and Iraq is a country that must know freedom for the sake of the rest of the world.
The Democrats accuse the White House of engaging in a war with no exit strategy. Success is our exit strategy in Iraq and in the war on terror across the globe. Senators calling for a withdrawal from Iraq to accelerate our gains in Afghanistan are both naïve and dangerous in a time of war. They see this war as one where a president has asked the men and women of our military to sacrifice, bleed, and die for the people of another country on the far side of the world. I view success as never having to relive the horrors of 9-11 through an act of terror on American soil.
I have fought in wars and, as a former military commander, I know that war is neither pretty nor politically expedient. It is a last resort in the face of a dire threat to our national security. The military is the only option left when the other three pillars of American National Power – diplomacy, economic measures, and intelligence – have failed to produce results. Wars end with either victory or defeat. One does not simply withdraw to fight the war somewhere else. The sooner the Democrats in Congress - the same Democrats who were all too willing to vote for war when it was politically popular – come to grips with these basic tenets of warfare, the sooner General Petraeus and his troops can get back to winning this war.
