Another Easy Prediction

No matter what General Petraeus actually says in his upcoming report, you can bet every penny you've ever owned that top Democrats will say Iraq is a failure, and we need to get out. They've been broadcasting that message for weeks, and they've already scheduled hearings to discuss exactly how to proceed with America's surrender.

Sure, there is still a lot of work to do, but there is real, substantial progress being made. We should each pay careful attention to what Petraeus says. After all, look at what he's done in just the past 4-6 months. He's taken an abysmal situation and brought calm and control to large swaths of real estate in Iraq. And, just to remind you, the purpose of the surge was to provide a secure atmosphere to enable political progress to move forward. That means the security had to come first. It is well under way, so now we need to let the political progress move forward. That's already happening, as I've mentioned before, but it still needs more time. The Iraqi people deserve more time, and our troops have certainly bought more time with their lives.

Also, it helps to look at the larger perspective. This isn't just about stabilizing Iraq; it's about stabilizing the region with an America-friendly government in the heart of the Muslim oil-rich Middle East. And, on the flip side, if Iraq descends into chaos, that chaos will explode outward, enveloping the entire region (and, most likely, much of the world) in conflict. There isn't really much doubt about that anymore, except from the really hardcore anti-war-at-all-costs Leftists. Can we really afford to allow that to happen? I'm not saying we should blindly remain there indefinitely, but we have to understand the ramifications for a premature departure.

It may not come back to haunt us immediately, but considering that Iran is a state sponsor of worldwide terrorism and is rapidly drawing nearer to their own atomic weapons, terrorists all over the world are striving to kill Americans whenever they can, and that our borders are as tight as a limp noodle, it's only a matter of time.

There's my two cents.