Quote of the Day: Sanity among Dems

Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.), one of the few sane voices of his party, wrote a stirring defense of America's involvement in Iraq for today's Wall Street Journal. In stark contrast to the cut-and-run forces in control of the Democratic party, he believes that America has a "good plan for . . . victory in Iraq," a plan that has evolved as we learn from our victories and mistakes.

Here's a snippet of Lieberman's prose:

[The Iraqi] people are working their way toward a functioning society and economy in the midst of a very brutal, inhumane, sustained terrorist war against the civilian population and the Iraqi and American military there to protect it.

It is a war between 27 million and 10,000; 27 million Iraqis who want to live lives of freedom, opportunity and prosperity and roughly 10,000 terrorists who are either Saddam revanchists, Iraqi Islamic extremists or al Qaeda foreign fighters who know their wretched causes will be set back if Iraq becomes free and modern. The terrorists are intent on stopping this by instigating a civil war to produce the chaos that will allow Iraq to replace Afghanistan as the base for their fanatical war-making. We are fighting on the side of the 27 million because the outcome of this war is critically important to the security and freedom of America. If the terrorists win, they will be emboldened to strike us directly again and to further undermine the growing stability and progress in the Middle East, which has long been a major American national and economic security priority.

Lieberman also noted that polls of Iraqis say that "two-thirds say they are better off than they were under Saddam, and a resounding 82% are confident their lives in Iraq will be better a year from now than they are today."

Isn't that worth our involvement?

By the way, let's do a little math. Lieberman said the Iraqi army is roughly 100,000 strong, and I think we have 130,000 US troops, the latter obviously better trained than the former. According to Lieberman, they are fighting 10,000 terrorists (not to mention the supporting governments of Syria and Iran, among others). Sure, it seems like lopsided odds, but remember that these terrorists are willing to ignore any semblance of humanity in this fight (strapping explosives to a disabled child, blowing up innocents in mosques, driving a car bomb into a crowd of kids receiving toys from American troops) and think it glorious to die in the struggle.

If we pull out tomorrow, what happens? We leave the same 10,000 terrorists and their supporters to fight against the inexperienced Iraqi army. Without the US, the Iraqis have 57 percent fewer boots on the ground to take on the terrorists, and an even smaller army if you consider experience. If the terrorists have been able to kill 2,000 US troops in three years, how many innocent Iraqis will they be able to blow up, dismember and behead without the pesky Americans in the way?

Yes, we get our boys and girls out of harm's way, which is a good thing if viewed in a vacuum; I have a friend in Afghanistan, and I dread the news that some Taliban wacko might ensure my friend will never see his wife and kids again.

But if we pull out, the terrorists' path to chaos just got a whole lot easier, and the world knows the US — again — will not keep its word to the oppressed.

If you still think this is a good idea, read this last quote from Lieberman regarding his recent trip to the Middle East:

After a Thanksgiving meal with a great group of Marines at Camp Fallujah in western Iraq, I asked their commander whether the morale of his troops had been hurt by the growing public dissent in America over the war in Iraq. His answer was insightful, instructive and inspirational: "I would guess that if the opposition and division at home go on a lot longer and get a lot deeper it might have some effect, but, Senator, my Marines are motivated by their devotion to each other and the cause, not by political debates."

Now if we could just get Joe Lieberman's colleagues to understand this.