“Don’t Be Fooled, America”

That’s the title of Charles Krauthamer’s status report on the war against terror. As Krauthammer correctly notes, the last twenty-two months have seen progress in countries ranging in an arc from Afghanistan to Syria:
“That’s every country from the Khyber Pass to the Mediterranean Sea. Everywhere you look, the forces of moderation have been strengthened. This is a huge strategic advance not just for the region but for the world, because this region in its decades-long stagnation has incubated the world’s most virulent anti-American, anti-Western, anti-democratic and anti-modernist fanaticism.
“This is not to say that the Near East has been forever transformed. It is only to say that because of American resolution and action, there is a historic possibility for such a transformation.
“It all hinges, however, on success in Iraq. On America not being driven out of Iraq the way it was driven out of Lebanon and Somalia — which is what every terrorist and every terrorist state wants to see happen. And with everything at stake, what is the left doing? Everything it can to undermine the enterprise. By implying both that it was launched fraudulently (see yellowcake, above) and, alternately, that it has ensnared us in a hopeless quagmire.”
This is indeed a low moment in the history of the American left, and, sadly, the Democratic party. With so much at stake, the Democrats can find no constructive role to play. They can’t even stay out of the way and avoid giving aid and comfort to our enemies. A low moment indeed; but for the Democrats, not for America. It is vital for Americans to realize how much progress has been made in a stunningly short time.