The surge has worked a dramatic change in Baghdad, but it will all be for naught if the Democrats are able to force America out of Iraq or otherwise to set a date certain for withdrawal. That is the conclusion of Rocco DiPippo, an American contractor in Iraq, in this article he authored in today's American Thinker:
I have observed first-hand the effects of the Bush Administration's new Iraq security plan since it began two months ago. Street violence in Baghdad and surrounding areas has declined. Shops and markets once boarded up are reopening. Iraqi civilians are venturing out onto the streets again and living their lives with less fear of being persecuted, tortured, maimed or killed. To be sure, there is still plenty of terror and violence in Iraq, but since the "troop surge" began, it has lessened considerably.
. . . Two weeks ago, I took another trip through Baghdad. I then headed south and eventually north to a small town close to Iran's border. In all, I traveled approximately 400 miles. At no time did I feel threatened, either when approaching checkpoints, (all of which were legitimate and well-manned), or upon exiting my car to visit a few reconstruction projects, each in separate towns miles apart.
There were other stunning differences between that trip, and the one I'd taken in December.
On the December trip I had seen abandoned shops and frightened people. On the latest one I saw many shops opened and people going about their business in what appeared to be a relaxed manner. On the first trip I saw cars and trucks in gas lines that stretched for miles. On the latest trip, though gas lines existed, they were far shorter, and looked about as long as those experienced by Americans at the height of the 1970s oil crisis. On the first trip I saw nothing but ruin: houses and other buildings in derelict condition, most appearing unfit for human habitation. On the latest trip I still saw many houses in poor condition, but I also saw homes being built, and a good number of existing houses and storefronts being repaired
As the miles clicked by and I viewed the passing scenes and the people in them, I realized I was seeing widespread signs of something I hadn't seen much of four months ago: I was seeing Hope. I saw that Iraqis had not yet given up on their lives or their country. I saw widespread evidence they are rebuilding both.
A simple thing is kindling that hope, and it is a thing being affected by the new security plan: the just imposition of basic law and order.
As Iraq extricates itself from 40 years of injustice, brutality and death, the steady, just imposition of law and order is what is necessary for it to achieve a state of civility and prosperity. And law and order is being brought to Iraq not by leftwing Washington, DC, politicians who spout antiwar rhetoric for political gain, or by disingenuous antiwar icons like Cindy Sheehan, but by brave Iraqi Army and Coalition soldiers positioned along the highways and in the villages and towns orbiting Baghdad. Four months ago I had not seen a significant military presence much past Baghdad's outskirts. On my last trip, six weeks into the troop surge, I did.
That law and order presence gives Iraqis the chance to get on with life. It is making the difference between them cowering in fear of the terrorists, and them giving security forces information leading to the capture or annihilation of terrorists. That presence is emboldening good Iraqis to rise up against their tormenters, and chase them out, which is now happening with increasing frequency throughout the country.
In the end, whether Iraq thrives or descends into total chaos depends largely on whether or not American soldiers stay long enough to restore order, and to impart their skills on Iraqi security forces. If American forces leave before law and order is permanently restored, or before Iraq's security forces are capable of holding the line against the terrorists, Iraq surely will be lost.
. . .Please realize that if you Democrats get your early withdrawal, the torturers and murderers will control Iraq. And emboldened by that victory, and in possession of Iraq's substantial resources, it will only be a matter of time before those hunters of humans -- the beheaders, the torturers of women and children, the suicide bombers and the hyper-religious fanatics - bring death to your own cities and towns and streets.
Read the entire article here. It posits some very sobering thoughts.
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