Reuel Marc Gerecht has written a biting essay in the Weekly Standard that Fisks the compound meme that the Iraq War was a distraction. He points out that on every single count, from the contention that it destracted us from Afghanistan and Al Qaeda to the contention that it has swelled the ranks of the jihadis, the Iraq War has had precisely the opposite effect. One, of many, reassuringly precise grafs:
We should be skeptical of those voices who tell us that success in Iraq won't have serious repercussions for the rest of the Middle East (the same voices that are usually quick to point out the adverse effects of failure). The trial of Saddam Hussein, in whom many Muslims of the Middle East will see the image of their own rulers, will make gripping television, even on the anti-American Al Jazeera satellite channel. Iraq's coming great debates, for all the country's enormous problems and attendant violence, will echo through the region on television and radio. The Sunni Arabs of the region will watch Shiite Arabs, long cursed creatures, moving forward, however fitfully and slowly, toward more democracy than they themselves have ever imagined. The shame could be unbearably provocative. The now famous letter to al Qaeda from Abu Musab al Zarqawi, a Jordanian holy warrior operating in Iraq, tells, we can hope, the future of the entire region. Jihadism cannot survive people power. When the common Muslim man is responsible for his own fate, human decency and civility will win out.
Yes, I know there are rumors of a coup in the Shia neighborhoods of Baghdad, stirred up by the followers of Sadr. It's about time we took note of him, and an arrest warrant has been duly issued by the Iraqi criminal justice system. As (I think) Dan Darling observed some time ago, Sadr was given too much head in advancing his pogrom of the Sunni, and he's an excellent example of the folly of allowing an evil flower to bloom simply because it crowds out a few weeds.
Update: Steven Den Beste sees a silver lining in recent events in Iraq. Key graf:
The most important thing that happened in the last few days is that many of the most dangerous people in Iraq gave us an excuse to destroy them. CENTCOM won't throw this opportunity away.Posted by Demosophist at April 5, 2004 11:58 PM | TrackBack