The Cost of Weakness

Moqtada al-Sadr’s uprising and the violence in Fallujah set off a frenzy of panic in Washington. In remarks rebroadcast repeatedly on al-Jazeera, Sen. Edward Kennedy said, “Iraq is George Bush’s Vietnam.” Jimmy Carter called the entire Iraq campaign “a tragedy.” Even as Coalition forces contained violence to just three pockets, Sen. Robert Byrd, a member of the Armed Services Committee, demanded a road map out for American forces in the face of the challenge. And Pat Buchanan told the New York Times, “We have gotten ourselves bogged down in what is clearly a quagmire.”

While newspaper headlines may scream doom and gloom, the view from Iraq is more restrained. There has been significant success there, but both allies and adversaries detect weakness in the American war on terrorism. Iraqi democrats and liberals remain scarred by George H. W. Bush’s 1991 decision to abandon Iraqis who followed his call to rise up for freedom. Our opponents—Iranian-backed guerrillas, Saudi-financed Wahhabis, and Syrian-supported Baathist remnants—believe that the United States lacks the will to fight. Iranian and other television stations rerun scenes of the U.S. withdrawal from Beirut following the 1983 Marine barracks bombing, and the flight from Somalia ten years later. The United States has done little to counter such propaganda.

About the Author

Michael Rubin

Michael Rubin is Director of Policy Analysis at the Middle East Forum and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

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Moqtada al-Sadr’s uprising and the violence in Fallujah set off a frenzy of panic in Washington. In remarks rebroadcast repeatedly on al-Jazeera, Sen. Edward Kennedy said, “Iraq is George Bush’s Vietnam.” Jimmy Carter called the entire Iraq campaign “a tragedy.” Even as Coalition forces contained violence to just three pockets, Sen. Robert Byrd, a member of the Armed Services Committee, demanded a road map out for American forces in the face of the challenge. And Pat Buchanan told the New York Times, “We have gotten ourselves bogged down in what is clearly a quagmire.”

While newspaper headlines may scream doom and gloom, the view from Iraq is more restrained. There has been significant success there, but both allies and adversaries detect weakness in the American war on terrorism. Iraqi democrats and liberals remain scarred by George H. W. Bush’s 1991 decision to abandon Iraqis who followed his call to rise up for freedom. Our opponents—Iranian-backed guerrillas, Saudi-financed Wahhabis, and Syrian-supported Baathist remnants—believe that the United States lacks the will to fight. Iranian and other television stations rerun scenes of the U.S. withdrawal from Beirut following the 1983 Marine barracks bombing, and the flight from Somalia ten years later. The United States has done little to counter such propaganda.