A learned
observer writes about that which he classifies as "increasingly
surreal." "I find, about discussions of Iraq, two universes
of discourse, parallel but not contiguous. When I talk to one
set of friends and acquaintances or read what they write, I get
one version of what is going on. When I talk with another set,
or read what they write, I get an entirely different and incompatible
assessment. If you talk to military affairs specialists like Victor
Davis Hanson, or political analysts like David Pryce-Jones, you
get the sense that immense progress has been and is being made
both in getting rid of the terrorists and in establishing a workable
society in Iraq."
It is certainly
true that we do not read much about, or ponder at all, the importance
of terrorist plots discovered and disrupted. We are not told how
many senior al-Qaida agents are in custody.
We are reminded
of the Iraq constitution and know, of course, of the great election
only a few weeks away, on Dec. 15. Is there a corresponding explosion
of municipal and business infrastructure? Water and sanitation
and communications systems, schools, oil pipelines, local and
national business initiatives? Does the eye of reason see in the
frenzies of the terrorists desperation of the kind insurgents
feel who see defeat ahead, not victory? The kind of people who
are prepared to bomb children to express their desperation?
Critics talk
of "racing for the exits" in Iraq. But -- most emphatically,
by a vote of 403-3 -- Congress recently rejected with fervor exits
of the type associated with despair. The terrorists are acting
like the beleaguered Japanese in Okinawa when they saw themselves
destined to defeat, alienation and even deracination. My friend
writes of one critic's "tendentious assertions, typically
offered in the protasis of his sentences in order to enhance the
aura of casual but apodictic assurance. 'But while the war is
lost both as a political matter at home and a practical matter
in Iraq ...' Hello? What confirmation do we have of exit strategies
going on by the president or his secretary of state or his secretary
of defense?"
The New
York Post on Sunday assembled a comparison of what Messrs.
Reid, Clinton, Dean, Biden, Kennedy, Kerry, Gore and Byrd had
to say about going into Iraq, the threat of Iraq, the dangers
in ignoring the threat of Iraq, the advantages strategic and moral
in asserting ourselves there, the need to enforce the resolutions
of the U.N. being ignored by Saddam Hussein. The Post
set these comments over against the language being used today
by the summer soldiers. It is illuminating and casts a long shadow
over the future of the United States, the security of the commander
in chief, and the longevity of the national will.
My correspondent
concludes: "You told me that your friend predicted that within
six months of the election, it would be clear to all that the
country was on its feet. Is he correct? I do not know. I note
that many people assured me that a constitution would never be
ratified in Iraq. They were, by and large, the same people who
assured me that were the U.S. to invade Iraq, the Arab street
would erupt in a world jihad.
"The
supposedly impossible thing in fact happened, and the dead certainty
failed to take place. Even more curious is how little difference
that has made in the -- is the word appropriate? -- debate. Reality
-- what actually happened or seemed to happen -- somehow hasn't
counted for much when it comes to informing opinion on Iraq. Six
months from the election takes us to 15 June. It would be interesting
to step back and specify some milestones by which we could judge
the campaign: what developments, were they accomplished, would
lead us to judge the venture a success? What are some alternative
eventualities that would compel us to acknowledge failure?
"We
could scribble a few such criteria on a sheet of paper now and
seal it in an envelope marked, 'Do not open until June 15, 2006.'
Then, on a balmy summer eve, we could have an envelope-opening
ceremony and see where things stood. I suspect the backers of
Mr. Bush would have something to celebrate."
