Right Side of the Rainbow

But we won’t.

Writing for the Weekly Standard, William Kristol and Fred Kagan say “[t]here should be no doubt about the hostile role Iran and Syria are playing in Iraq today:”

The reality is that foreign fighters are flowing into Iraq to kill Iraqis and Americans. Almost all suicide bombers in Iraq are foreign fighters, for whom this is the crucial battle. This means that our victory there will be an important victory in the larger struggle against terrorism—and our defeat there would embolden and empower our enemies. And the reality is that Iran and Syria are enemies. Most foreign fighters join al Qaeda in Iraq via Syria. And Iran has been sending advanced weapons and advisers into Iraq. These weapons and insurgents supported by Iran are killing our soldiers on a daily basis.

In other words, our biggest problem in Iraq isn’t in Iraq; it’s in Tehran and Damascus. But if so, doesn’t this doom the surge? Beyond the fever swamps of the left, does anybody think we’re going to wage war on Iran for aiding the jihadists? We won’t even stop her from developing nuclear weapons.

If you’re picking fleas off a dog when what you should be doing is fumigating the backyard, you’re fighting a never-ending battle.

We minority of Americans who still support this war won only a transient victory this week when Congress capitulated to the president on the funding bill. Our countrymen no longer want to hold the line, much less advance it. Everybody, but everybody, knows what’s coming.

The Iraqis, especially those who were foolish enough to trust us, will suffer mightly, as will America’s national security interests. Jules Crittenden put it best: “How many times can a great nation retreat from inferior forces and remain great?”

But in a democracy — a truly awful form of government, wherein the unlettered hold as much sway over public policy as their well-read peers, but for which no decent alternative exists — you cannot long defy the will of the majority.

So there it is. And come September, we can all sign off.