Hanson Piece inspires Blogger Comment
The other day Victor Davis Hanson wrote an importan essay that is worth my linking to a 2nd time:
That we are winning the fight against the forces of ignorance, and terror, and changing the lives of people in the Middle East for the better in the bargain.
Don't just take my word for it, read the words of Victor Davis Hanson, for starters. He asks some very pertinent questions:
"What did 2,400 brave and now deceased Americans really sacrifice for in Iraq, along with thousands more who were wounded? And what were billions in treasure spent on? And what about the hundreds of collective years of service offered by our soldiers?"
His answers are clear:
There may be a lot to regret about the past policy of the United States in the Middle East, but the removal of Saddam Hussein and the effort to birth democracy in his place is surely not one of them. And we should remember that this Memorial Day....
A decade of appeasement of Islamic terrorism, with retaliations after the serial attacks — from the first World Trade Center bombing to Khobar Towers and the USS Cole — never exceeding the occasional cruise missile or stern televised lecture, made September 11 inevitable....
Our soldiers fought for the chance of a democracy; that fact is uncontestable. Before they came to Iraq, there was a fascist dictatorship. Now, after three elections, there is an indigenous democratic government for the first time in the history of the Middle East. True, thousands of Iraqis have died publicly in the resulting sectarian mess; but thousands were dying silently each year under Saddam — with no hope that their sacrifice would ever result in the first steps that we have already long passed....
If many in the Middle East once thought it was cute that 19 killers could burn a 20-acre hole in Manhattan, I am not sure what they think of Americans now in their backyard not living to die, but willing to die so that other Arabs might live freely....
Please read the full essay here: Looking back at Iraq: A War to be Proud Of.
Several Bloggers tossed in their 2 cents on this issue.
Dutch blogger Michael van der Galien:
"Whenever American Liberals try to attack American conservatives for their support for this war, we should never forget that if it was up to these American Liberals Saddam would still have been in power, abusing the fool-for-oil program, murdering thousands of civilians every year and torturing (ten) thousands of political opponents."
Especially this weekend, though, we should be remembering the achievement our military has had in crushing the Taliban and Saddam Hussein. That we have stayed on to offer a new alternative other than autocracy and theocracy in Afghanistan and Iraq, and kept a targeted United States safe from attack for over four years is an incredible accomplishment."
"By reminding us of our past policy failures, Hanson helps put what we have accomplished into context. Most of what we have done actually rectifies years of bad moves we have made in the Middle East. There is no government on the face of this earth who has done more to save the lives of Muslims than the United States."
A well deserved Tip of the Hat to Alexandra Von Maltzan, of the Visually spectacular, and thought provoking new Blog All Things Beautiful, who, in doing a round up of Memorial Day posts, as a part of a piece on Hanson Reactions, included my own such round-up of yesterday.
She points readers to her own response to an earlier great essay by Hanson called "The Prison of the Present" in a piece called "Restoring Humility To Our National Psyche In The Face Of Nihilism".
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