The Third Phase of the War

Very little attention has been paid to the fact that the war in Iraq is now in its third phase. The first phase was the overthrow of Saddam Hussein which was a traditional military operation. The second phase was the organized resistance. This was a combination of Baathists and Islamic foreigners. They attacked the military from hiding using rocket powered grenades (RPGs) and improvised explosives (IEDs).

The newest phase is mainly foreign Islamists. They use car bombs and their main target is the Iraqi people. In May, there were nearly 9 Iraqis killed for every American.

A year ago Michael Moore claimed that the insurgents in Iraq were the same as the American Minutemen. John Kerry kept saying that Iraq was a distraction from the war on Terror. If these statements were ever true, they no longer are. George Washington was native-born and did not spend his time attacking civilians.

As for the "distraction" argument, it has become a distraction for Osama bin Ladden. No one seems to be interested in taking the fight to American soil when they can fight us in Iraq instead. In this way, the war is keeping us safer.

Yes, the cost has been high. As Nightline and Doonsbury love to remind us, a lot of Americans had died in this fight. What they don't like to remind us is that the body count started in the 1980s with a terrorist bombing of a marine barracks and continued through 9-11.

During Viet Nam the argument was that the communists in Asia were no threat to us. This is not true with the terrorists in Arabia. Some of them have already brought death to American soil. If we pull out of Iraq they will be encouraged and start killing us at home again.

That is why they are pushing so hard in Iraq. If they can weaken our resolve it will be a huge victory for them. With wide open boarders and a supportive Left, the terrorists will have no problem bringing the fight to us if we stop taking it to them.