Iraq is Turning

Fire of Liberty

As always, Ralph Peters has another great column in the April 22, 2005 edition of The New York Post. In this one, Peters notes that the terrorists who have flooded into Iraq at the behest of Osama bin Laden have slammed into a brick wall better known as the US military and the Iraqi citizenry. I'd say that Osama's pleas actually provided the needed honey to attract the flies (terrorists) to a fly-paper trap. Just take the words of Peters on this phenomenon:

The media hailed the recent assaults on the Abu Ghraib compound and a Marine base on the Syrian border as proof of the terrorists' growing sophistication. In fact, the attacks were relatively crude attempts, impressive only in comparison to previous ineptitude. And they failed disastrously, costing our enemies dearly yet again.

Such attacks are a forlorn hope. They grasp at the only strategy left to those who oppose a free Iraq: a renewed effort to kill enough Americans to make Washington throw in the towel. Islamist terrorists, especially, dream of one dramatic, catastrophic strike. They don't know what else to do.

Meanwhile, there's been a dramatic increase in citizen cooperation with the new Iraqi authorities and a crucial rise in tip-offs about terrorist and insurgent activities.

With their mad pursuit of carnage, our enemies — and Iraq's — are winning the battle for us. Every day, they alienate more Iraqis, even as Baghdad's improving security forces assume ever-greater responsibility for their own country. We just need to stay the course.

Peters demonstrates that if we keep our noses to the grind-stone and fight the good fight, we can eventually overcome any obstacle that our enemies throw before us. Iraq may be a long way from being Switzerland but its better than an Iraq ruled under Saddam.