The Fred Factor, by Steve Gill: on War & Peace

I would do essentially what the president’s doing in Iraq

If Saddam Hussein was still around today with his sons looking at Iran developing a nuclear capability, he undoubtedly would have reconstituted his nuclear capability. Things would be worse than what they are today.

Take any chance to not get run out of Iraq

Wars are full of mistakes. You rectify things. I think we’re doing that now.

Why would we not take any chance, even though there are certainly no guarantees, to not be run out of that place? I mean, we’ve got to take that opportunity & give it a chance to work.

President must decide on war based on unclear evidence

It’s absurd. Presidents in the future, as always, have to make a determination based on a lot of things, and intelligence is one of them. And the president not only has the right to evaluate the intelligence that he’s receiving, he has a duty to do that. He listens to the British. I mean, if history was any judge, if the Brits tell me that there’s an [Iraqi] deal with Niger and our guys don’t know whether there was or not, I tend to rely on the Brits.

Prophets of doom are wrong--we can’t cut-and-run

Let’s not minimize the challenges. Our nation faces a formidable enemy, in Iraq & elsewhere. Angry Baathists, fanatical Islamists and opportunistic terrorists from across the Mideast have perpetrated attacks against US soldiers, US allies, & against the Iraqi people themselves. Our resolve as a nation is being tested.

It’s obvious we can’t afford to cut and run. Even the most partisan critics admit as much. However, by invoking Vietnam, they are in effect predicting a US defeat & pullout. Even as they give lip service to winning, they foment a sense of despair, instead of offering a strategy for victory.

Let’s be blunt here: For many of President’s critics there is a domestic constituency to be won from failure abroad. They are campaigning on defeat

Goal of Iraqi enemies is to demoralize us

Past failures of will are among the main reasons we are under siege today. Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990 because he believed that Americans couldn’t take casualties. He looked at Vietnam & Lebanon and concluded that the Americans didn’t have the guts for a really tough fight. America’s failure to confront Saddam during the 1990s, as he thwarted weapons inspectors and economic sanctions and corrupted the oil for food program, only spurred him further.

Internationalizing war effort will not win the war

We should not confuse symbolic gestures for genuine strategy. Our enemies can tell the difference, and so should we.

Serious & painful international sanctions on nuclear Iran

We need to use every means at our disposal, starting with serious and painful international sanctions, to prevent Iran’s rulers from becoming the nuclear-armed blackmailers they want to be. Unfortunately, we are hearing demands that we abandon the people of the Middle East who have stood up to Islamo-fascism because they believed us when we said we would support them.

If we retreat precipitously, the price for that betrayal will be paid in blood & freedom by the Iranian people [and then others]. And America’s word may never be trusted again. Right now, the pirate Ahmadinejad is clearly more confident about the outcome of the Global War on Terror than we are. That ought to give us pause.