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No end of a lesson

Tuesday, 18th March 2008

The Spectator on the necessity for an immediate inquiry into the Iraq War

There will be more horrors: witness the suicide bomb in the holy city of Karbala on Monday which claimed at least 43 lives. But this is precisely the wrong moment for the West to set a rigid timetable for a full withdrawal just as the security situation in Iraq is turning. Petraeus should be given the chance to testify to Congress in April, and strategic decisions taken on the basis of that testimony, rather than the pressures of the US presidential race.

We face a still-unfamiliar landscape in which Islamist terror, rogue states and weapons of mass destruction form a new, deadly and intertwined triple threat. It is right — essential, indeed — that we scrutinise the errors of Iraq and learn the right lessons. But it would be a terrible delusion to conclude that this landscape would not exist had the invasion never happened; worse still to imagine that it would be made safer by precipitate withdrawal.

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Becket M. Saunders

March 20th, 2008 2:57pm

in re: "Self-evidently, the mere fact that the insurgency is still raging is a measure of failure" With admirablly succinct language, and exceptional clarity how completely inverse is your view of this authentic war-a war perpetrated and orchistarted by the Enimies of the West ( ie, the ChiComs and the Russians via their clients, the savages known as islamo-facists, &etc ). What you put forth as facts, evidence, is but one of many tactical facets of the enemy we face-and shall face for many decades, thanks to the muddled and misguided thinking of folk such as them who pen "No end of a lesson". No doubt many are grateful for this exercise in revelation. I give all who ponder these things some 'cake' to go with the 'icing': http://www.mediaresearch.org/realitycheck/2008/fax20080317.asp "Five Years of Slant Against Iraq War Success MRC Studies: Nets Minimize Iraq Success and Heroism, Emphasize Setbacks and Purported Atrocities" Kindest regards, from your cousin from across The Pond.