"If they blink, they lose"
That's the warning Charles Moore of the Daily Telegraph offers President Bush and Tony Blair in this thoughful, balanced analysis of the situation in Iraq. It's worth reading the whole thing, but here are a few highlights drawn from the more upbeat concluding portion of the analysis:
"When a great power injects a new idea into the political world – that we must not appease dictators, that an Iron Curtain is descending across Europe, that we face a 'war against terrorism' - it is bound at first to be imperfectly thought out, but it is the opponents of these new ideas, not their authors, who look shabby in the light of history.
"Anyway, we are where we are, and where we are, according to all my varied collection of experts, is far from hopeless. A tyrant who ruined his country and defied the free world is in prison. Iraq is becoming more prosperous and the infrastructure is recovering, though too slowly. From July 1, it will have the inklings of self-rule. . . .No, Iraq is not about to become Sweden on the Tigris, but it could become the fairly open, prosperous and educated society which, once upon a time, it was. If it did, it would set an example that changed the shape of the region.
"And the coalition attacks on Afghanistan, and then on Iraq, not to mention missions in the Philippines, and gentler tactics in Libya and Pakistan, have made a difference. If you are Yemen, Syria, Iran, you have been given pause for thought. All these warnings against "setting the Muslim world ablaze" ignore the fact that the fire was burning fiercely before anyone thought of the war against terrorism (and that there have actually been fewer terrorist attacks since September 11 than in the preceding years).
"What could the coalition do better? More troops would be nice – there have never been enough Americans, and this leads to the insecurity of convoys and the beleaguered compounds that keep occupiers so apart from the people. Clear command and control would be nicer still, particularly for the British, who have more or less unlimited liability for the conflict, but very little power over it. But what is needed above all is consistent political and military willpower, publicly demonstrated and explained. Without this, the media will create the future."
