Contender,
Where to start....
I want to know why you think we are "losing" the war against terrorists....
I suppose the straight answer is that we're not fighting a war against terrorists, but I'll lay it all out.
The way things are going in Iraq right now, every day sees the terrorists' ranks and abilities increasing while ours are decreasing. Every time we torture detainees, inadvertently (or intentionally) kill and injure noncombatants it sets the opinion of the average guy on the streets more in sympathy with the terrorists and less in support of our cause. Or at the very least, it's polarizing people who didn't want to get involved and forcing them into the enemy camp.
I might also add that they just busted up a terrorist plot in Florida 2 days ago to attack the Sears Tower.
Florida! And you know what, those terrorists weren't Iraqi, they were
Americans. Heck, they weren't even Arab or Muslim!
What many folks can't seem to grasp is that the war against terrorism is a war against extremism and barbarism itself, not against a religion, a nationality, or a race. And it can be won. But not the way we're trying to win it. It's won by alienating the terrorists from their base; making people see them for what they are and refusing to help. Attacking other nations (even malignant ones like Iraq) without *provable* justification makes us seem like the extremists instead of them. It's counterproductive.
I'll have you prove it for me: How many Iraqis do we have to kill in order to win the war on terror? Hint: Ask Dick Cheney. He just admitted that if we ever leave Iraq, win or lose, the terrorists will follow us home. That's HIS words.
and why you think we're not helping get a stable democracy built in Iraq.
Because we have done nothing to counteract the religious divisions in that region. In fact, we've done something worse than nothing by handing it over to the Shi'ites. Every country in the region has a vested interest in seeing Iraq fail and it's going to unless we do something about that.
As it stands now, we're looking at a Shi'a theocracy spanning from Syria through Iran with nuclear weapons and a religious hatred for all things Western. IOW, you haven't seen the half of how bad things are going to get. We have singlehandedly created our own worst enemy in order to replace a minor irritant. As much of a PITA as Saddam was, at least Iraq *used to be* a Sunni-controlled buffer state. Not anymore.
Democracy? I give it 3 years.
Do you not consider the death of Al-Zarqawi a step in the "winning" direction on the war on terror?
No.
Zarqaui was replaced before his body hit room temperature, just as I predicted on this very forum. Not that AlQaeda was ever a big factor in Iraq to begin with.
In fact, it can be argued that the death of Zarqaui was the death-blow....for *our* effort. He was the only man left that was dumb enough to unwittingly help
us win the war. Bombing Syria and Jordan was a spectacularly harebrained move on his part. They're not all that boneheaded.
And more to the point you can never defeat terrorism by killing and capturing the leadership. It's literally like trying to chop the head off a hydra. Every blow you strike makes your enemy stronger because they don't need centralized leadership.
Think about it. Let go of all the emotion, stand back and take a look. This is a war that we dare not lose. Our opponent is vulnerable if we have the wit to exploit his weaknesses. Do you honestly think that this administration is doing what's necessary to win, or are they just making a big show of fighting?
Not that the Dems will do any better, mind you.
Neither party is willing to bet it's authority for our security.
