The Secretary of Defense writes in the WaPo today:
Though there are those who will never be convinced that the cause in Iraq is worth the costs, anyone looking realistically at the world today — at the terrorist threat we face — can come to only one conclusion: Now is the time for resolve, not retreat.
Consider that if we retreat now, there is every reason to believe Saddamists and terrorists will fill the vacuum — and the free world might not have the will to face them again. Turning our backs on postwar Iraq today would be the modern equivalent of handing postwar Germany back to the Nazis. It would be as great a disgrace as if we had asked the liberated nations of Eastern Europe to return to Soviet domination because it was too hard or too tough or we didn’t have the patience to work with them as they built free countries.
Great word pictures if you believe that securing the peace in Iraq is equivalent to any of the historic conflicts of the past. I do, and the secretary’s message today is a great reminder that history will be the judge of all that is happening in Iraq today. Decades into the future, we’ll recognize the importance and significance of democratic change in Iraq.