The Iraqis damn well better be worth it

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Tuesday January 24, 2006 · 10:17 AM PST

2006/01/24 · 10:17

Iraqis and Afghans are the among most optimistic people in the world when it comes to their economic future, a new survey for the BBC suggests.

My Republican friends are waving this under my nose, somehow thinking this will shame me into admitting Bush was right all along.

As if.

Fact is, I'm glad for the Afghans and Iraqis. Not only that: they SHOULD feel better. They SHOULD feel appreciative. We've given them a huge gift: our blood and treasure in return for their freedom and liberty.

Now the question is...what are they going to do with it?

More on the flip...

In Saving Private Ryan, Capt. Miller (Tom Hanks) said this about the title character, "He better be worth it. He better go home and cure a disease, or invent a longer-lasting lightbulb."

Similarly, I hope the Iraqis are worth it.

But if they become an Islamic Republic in the orbit of Iran, with the mullahs sitting in judgement of the constitution, then it will all be remembered as a bitter, bitter experience.

Lincoln, a real war President, said it best:

"...we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth."

If what we get in return for our blood and treasure is an Islamic Republic in the orbit of Iran, then this entire war will be remembered as a dishonoring of our sacrifice.

If the mullahs sit in final judgement of their constitution, then they don't have a government of the people. They have a theocracy.

I can hear my Republican friends saying, "Why should we impose our values and traditions on the Iraqis? Shouldn't they be free to choose for themselves in a democratic manner?"

I'll be blunt: NO.

We died so they could be free. Now, and in the future, they damn well better be worth it.

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