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Less than a year ago the war with Iraq had yet to be fought. Critics were predicting a long, protracted struggle against Saddam's army and even the population. The critics were wrong, of course. In one of the greatest military victories in history the allied forces toppled Saddam Hussein in a war that lasted less than two months. Since then Al Qaeda terrorists and Saddam loyalists have fought a sporadic guerrilla war in an attempt to force an allied withdrawal that would allow Saddam Hussein to return to power...and once again enslave the populace of Iraq.

In this effort the forces of Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein have been aided by an unusual ally: the leftists in the West. From Germany to France to right here in the United States the leftists have been agitating for conditions that would allow Saddam Hussein to either stay in power or (since his defeat) to return to power. In an earlier article, I detailed some of the latest attempts by the left to force President Bush to abandon Iraq or even to force him from office with a trumped-up scandal. What the left can not win through the ballot box or judicial fiat they will try to obtain through deceit or even treachery. It is the nature of the beast. We need look no further than the self-appointed mouths of liberalism to see that they are a group that consists of admitted liars, propagandists and partisan politicians who change their stances on issues more often than they change their underwear. For them the ends justify the means, and their goal is to seize power any way they can.

I have come to expect this from the left. For decades the left has been waging war against Capitalism and freedom. Sometimes it has taken the form of aiding leftist regimes like the Soviet Union (until President Reagan so cold-heartedly toppled that regime), sometimes it has meant aiding leftist revolutionary movements and at other times opposing United States policy around the world. In the current struggle the left has done all three. First it attempted to keep Saddam Hussein in power, despite the thousands of Iraqis who died in his prisons, torture chambers and rape rooms. Then it tried to portray the allied war effort as hopelessly "bogged down" in an attempt to incite public opinion against a continued war effort. When the allies won their spectacular victory and liberated Iraq the left shifted immediately into post-traumatic stress mode. Every setback in Iraq has been catalogued as a reason to abandon Iraq, despite criticism from these same people that abandoning Afghanistan in the early 1990s helped bring about the Taliban in that region.

The reason for this behavior is pretty clear. Outside the United States the left does not want to see another free, capitalist country established, especially in a region that has traditionally been the home of authoritarian regimes. Those dictatorships go hand-in-hand with the movements throughout the rest of the world that find capitalism, freedom and democracy to be obstacles to the left's vision of a socialist paradise. The fact that most of the dictatorships in the region have been anti-Israeli is icing on the cake. (Despite lip-service to the plight of Jews around the world, leftist regimes are only interested in the Jews—or any other group—that cooperate with their goals, as the pogroms in the Soviet Union demonstrated.) Inside the United States the left has been concentrating on forcing President Bush from office. Judging by their behavior, it does not matter to the left if they have to help terrorists and dictators in order to achieve their goals.

No one has denied that the work in post-war Iraq will be hard. Terrorists have thrived in that region of the world for decades. Al Qaeda is simply one of the latest incarnations of anti-western terrorism. History has demonstrated that trying to appease the terrorists, or the regimes that support them, only leads to more terrorism. We have to continue to fight the war on terrorism. What critics do not admit is that President Bush has taken the war to the terrorists. Instead of trying to prevent suicide bombings in New York City and Washington, D.C. we are killing the terrorists in the Middle East, southwest Asia and in other parts of the world. This fight would be much harder, and United States casualties (including civilians) much higher if we had continued to fight the war against terrorism by lobbing cruise missiles at caves and aspirin factories.

World War II lasted for six years. The Cold War lasted over four decades. The war against terrorism has only been going on for two years, and the war against Saddam Hussein has only been over for six months. The progress we have made has been substantial, but there is still a long way to go. Those arguing for a retreat back to the shores of America are arguing in favor or more terrorism, for a return of Saddam Hussein and his criminal regime, and for the defeat of the United States. We must not abandon the people of Iraq, we must not surrender in the war on terrorism and we must not give in to the defeatist rhetoric from the left. They are on the losing side of history for good reason.

...the forces of Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein have been aided by an unusual ally: the leftists in the West

For decades the left has been waging war against Capitalism and freedom.

No one has denied that the work in post-war Iraq will be hard.

Those arguing for a retreat back to the shores of America are arguing in favor or more terrorism....