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Opinion: Americans cannot flinch as violent attacks rise in Iraq

June 27, 2004

With the transfer of sovereignty in Iraq imminent, the level of violence in that country has surged in recent days. Clearly the worst thing that can happen to the insurgents and terrorists is the establishment of a democratic government in Iraq that would marginalize radicals and set an example for the rest of the Middle East.

For the American people, whose servicemen and women are putting their lives on the line to help the Iraqis, this is one of those tough times when we cannot flinch. We must stand firm against the forces in Iraq and the Middle East that oppose freedom and would return that country to Saddamist or radical Islamist tyranny.

There is no logic to what the extremists are trying to do in Iraq. Why kill people who removed the brutal tyrant that ruled their country for decades? Why kill people who are trying to help them rebuild their country's economy and other basic services? There are no valid reasons for such killing.

The issue of whether the coalition lead by the United States and Britain should have waged a war against the government of Saddam Hussein can be debated endlessly, and the American people will register their conclusions in the voting booth this November.

But the issue of whether the Iraqis and the coalition forces must defeat the radicals who would return Iraq to tyranny is not debatable. Losing this war would have a devastating impact not only on the people of Iraq but on the overall war against radical Islamic terrorism.

That's why Americans must support our troops and our government in this time of maximum peril, buttressed by the knowledge that our cause there is just.

Victory over the insurgents and the terrorists in Iraq and the establishment of democratic government is a whole lot more important than what happens in the voting booth in the November presidential election.

Leaders of both parties need to make that clear to all - particularly the terrorists - in these tough times. The terrorists need to know that they can expect no quarter from the United States - which ever party controls the White House.

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