Jay Reding.com

I watched President Bush’s speech on Iraq tonight, and was rather underwhelmed. I don’t disagree with the President — we cannot allow Iraq to fall into chaos. We have a moral obligation to help our Iraqi allies. The war in Iraq is a crucial part of the war on terrorism.

The problem is that the President didn’t give us the clear answers to why we’re in Iraq that the American people are demanding. It is not that there aren’t clear and cogent answers, it is that the President doesn’t seem to be able to communicate them.

It is welcome news that the security situation in Iraq is improving. It is welcome news that some of our troops can go home. What we need is a clearer explanation of why we’re in Iraq and how we can get out without causing further problems in the region.

The President has a powerful bully pulpit, and had he used it more effectively this war would be far less controversial than it has been. The American people need to know why we’re fighting in Iraq and why we need to win. They didn’t get clear answers from the President tonight, and men like General Petraeus and Senator McCain have done a much better job of explaining the situation.

The President did not have the right tone tonight. He didn’t give the clear answers that the American people have been looking for. Even though the situation in Iraq is improving, the political situation at home remains tenuous for the pro-victory caucus. That is because the man who is the leader of the country and the Commander in Chief hasn’t done as well as many bloggers have done in defending this war.

I have a great deal of respect for the President, and I find most of the puerile attacks against him to be disgusting. At the same time, a President must first and foremost be a leader. The President has not been the kind of leader he needs to be, and the American people need strong and forthright leadership at this critical junction in history. President Bush can inspire a nation, as he did six years ago in the wake of the September 11 atrocities. He didn’t reach those heights today, and that means that the political stalemate in Washington will continue for some time.

Sad news as the world learns that Anbar Awakening leader Sheikh Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha has been killed in a car bombing. Undoubtedly his high-profile stance against al-Qaeda has made him a high-priority target.

Sheikh Abu Risha was one of the first to break with al-Qaeda in al-Anbar Province, part of a group of Sunni tribesmen who had become sick and tired of the constant violence leveled against Iraqi Sunnis by the terrorist group. He and other tribal leaders decided that it was time for Iraq’s Sunni to be free of the foreign-led invaders, and they came to form a group called the Anbar Awakening, an alliance of tribes dedicated to working with the US and Iraqi forces in defeating al-Qaeda.

The progress that Sheikh Abu Risha has begun will not stop with his death. Al-Qaeda thought that they could bully Iraq’s Sunnis into accepting their radical Islamist rule. They were wrong then, and they are still wrong. The avalanche has already begun — Iraqi Sunnis have seen what al-Qaeda has wrought and they know that the only path to freedom, peace and security is to see al-Qaeda gone from Iraq. The death of one man will not stop the Awakening, and inshallah Iraq’s Sunnis will rid their lands of the foreign-led invasion and be able to forge a better future in which they need not fear al-Qaeda, Shi’a, or anyone else.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune has an amazing piece on Jessica Charyer, the former Minneapolis Aquatennial Queen who not only survived a life-threatening medical condition, but is going to Iraq to be with the other members of her unit:

Despite her determination to recover, she continued to experience intense pain and decided she couldn’t deploy. Because she was scheduled to be in Iraq for a year, her doctors initially offered her a prescription for a year supply of a powerful painkiller. She refused and insisted on more tests.

Charyer, 23, underwent a second surgery early last month, this time to remove scar tissue. Her unit headed to Iraq without her. She made plans to join them later and now expects to leave for Iraq in a few days.

“I’m ready to head over and meet up with my unit,” she said. “Before I even go over there, they teasingly say, I have the battle wounds, but I really think it has made me a stronger person.”

Somehow, I get the feeling she was plenty strong to begin with.

Mrs. Charyer’s dedication to her unit and the service of her country is an example for us all, military or civilian. Our country is incredibly fortunate to have young men and women with the courage of Jessica Charyer.

Amy Zegart, a guest blogger at The Volokh Conspiracy, tries to take apart two arguments for why al-Qaeda hasn’t managed to attack us since 9/11 (and not for a lack of trying). She first dismisses a key argument out of hand:

Argument #1: “we’re fighting them over there so they don’t attack us over here.” Yes, and the Tooth Fairy is real. This argument takes the prize for being both misleading and stupid, suggesting that Iraq’s civil war and regional instability are offset by that invisible fence in Anbar province that magically corrals the world’s terrorists and keeps them right where we want them.

That’s not a very good counter at all. Al-Qaeda has a fixed amount of resources. They can’t magically create terrorists — in order to pull of an attack like 9/11, you need to train people. Al-Qaeda can devote resources to fighting in Iraq, or resources to fighting in the US. To do both requires dividing their resources. As bin Laden himself has made clear, al-Qaeda has decided to put its chips in Iraq — and that means that resources that would normally be used for attacks against America have to be spent there.

It’s like arguing that the US military is stronger because of the war in Iraq. We have fixed resources too, and we’re stretching them to the limit to keep going in Iraq. Al-Qaeda’s resources are more limited, and they are taking a lot more casualties than we are too.

As to the argument that the war in Iraq is recruiting new terrorists, for one it seems doubtful that there’s enough recruiting to make up for the ones they’re losing in Iraq. Secondly, new recruits aren’t particularly useful unless they’ve been trained. When you’re sending a good portion of your new recruits to blow themselves up, it’s harder to fill the ranks. Given that being a mid-level boss in al-Qaeda is not a good position for those seeking to live to retirement, the same pressure is being felt higher up the food chain.

In the end, the idea that “we’re fighting them over there so that we don’t have to fight them over here” is actually correct. Al-Qaeda cannot abandon Iraq any more than we can. They can’t afford to lose to the Americans, and so they (like us) have to keep devoting resources to that conflict rather than use them elsewhere. The problem they’re facing is that in the last year, Iraq has become markedly less hospitable to them and that’s adding to their pressures. Fighting a war of attrition with the US has worked for al-Qaeda so far. Fighting a war of attrition in which the Iraqi people are actively working against al-Qaeda is much less tenable for them. Yet they cannot retreat now that they have made Iraq their theater of battle. In many ways, al-Qaeda and the US are in the same boat. Neither can walk away from the conflict without catastrophic losses, and so it has been a war of attrition. The difference is that al-Qaeda doesn’t have to worry about political fratricide or bloviating Senators. We have the better military, but also the disadvantages of our democratic political system.

Zegart also is critical of the argument that we’re better at homeland security since 9/11:

Argument #2: “We’ve hardened the target by making dramatic improvements in homeland security, intelligence, and counterterrorism here at home.” This one sounds more reasonable on the face of it. We’ve seen a number of changes since 9/11. Among them: The FBI has doubled its analyst corps, the intelligence budget has increased an estimated 25%, and counterterrorism “fusion” centers are popping up like mushrooms–with more than 40 of them across the U.S.

Two problems here. The first is your view of progress. Government officials love to report about the half full glass. It’s the half empty part that worries me more.

The problem with this response, and it’s a strong one, is that even if it is true that doesn’t mean that the overall argument is wrong. We have gotten better at counter-terrorism in the last 6 years. We still have a very long way to go to get as good as we can be. However, we’re a much harder target now than we were on September 11, 2001. We’re taking security more seriously, and most importantly the public is much more attuned to the threat of terrorism. As much as we decry profiling in this country, if an Arab male puts on a headscarf and starts threatening a plane, that Arab male is going to get the living crap beaten out of him or worse. The 9/11 plot preyed on the traditional notions of an aircraft hijacking. After 9/11, the passengers will not be so complacent — as the heroes of Flight 93 demonstrates when they learned of what fate the monsters on their plane had intended.

We do need to do more. There needs to be less division between intelligence and law enforcement. However, that doesn’t mean we haven’t taken steps in the right direction.

Those two arguments aren’t the only reasons why we haven’t endured another attack since that terrible day more than six years ago — however, they are important reasons, and we cannot forget that the only real strategy combines both a strong national defense at home, but also ensuring that terrorist groups never get the chance to attack the United States.

Like most people, I figured that the events of September 11, 2001 would change this country forever.

It hasn’t.

Six years after thousands were brutally murdered, we’re more interested in fighting each other than in fighting those who were responsible for this atrocity. Six years later, we have a group of people publicly arguing that what we all saw that day never really happened — at least not the way it appeared. Six years later we’re a nation more divided than we have been since the days of the Civil War. A decent discussion of the issues of the day is nearly impossible. Everyone is entrenched in their own viewpoint, and rare is it to see someone willing to look beyond their own ideological blinders.

In any democratic system, there’s room for debate — in fact, debate is essential. However, this country doesn’t even share the same first principles anymore. Some view this war as just another excuse for “fascism” and are instantly and irrevocably dismissive of anything our government does. Others find themselves unwilling to accept even rational and informed criticism of the government. Everything is filtered through the prism of red or blue, left or right.

Partisanship is one think. Unthinking, reactionary, crude, and childish partisanship is another.

What Osama bin Laden could not achieve on September 11, 2001, we have done to ourselves.

We have failed the memory of those who lost their lives that terrible day. We have once again become a nation that is self-absorbed and uninterested in our position in the world. Our political classes line their own pockets and play to their bases rather than do what’s right in the national interest. Our national culture is still a culture of malignant narcissism — instead of celebrating heroism, our culture degrades it. The image most commonly used to describe the brave men and women of our armed forces: Abu Ghraib, the actions of a few who brought dishonor to their country. Meanwhile, from Africa to Afghanistan and across the globe, our fighting men and women perform more good than any force in history.

During World War II, this country collectively decided to put their petty differences aside and think first and foremost of the nation. Republicans did not insinuate that FDR let Pearl Harbor happen. Party labels were almost immaterial — we weren’t Democrats or Republicans, but Americans.

For a short while, it was that way in the aftermath of September 11. Then our narcissism returned and it was back to the ways of political war rooms and cheap partisan theatrics. The left will blame the Bush Administration, their white whale. The right will blame left-wing anti-Americanism, of which there is plenty. The true culprit stares us right in the mirror. We are all too willing to put our own petty interests above that of the nation.

If we want to honor the spirit of those who died on September 11th, we should start by asking ourselves every day not “what can I do to make my party win in the next election” but “what is legitimately right for this country?” The answer to that question may not be the same for everyone, but at least it is based on some principle other than petty partisanship.

Six years ago, 3,000 people lost their lives. We owe it to them to first and foremost never forget them, and secondly to never let them down. There is so much more to life than the mindlessness of partisan politics. The values that this country stands for — life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are values worth fighting for. Yet the only thing that our political classes seem to value is whether a given politician has a D or an R next to their name.

When the heroes of Flight 93 stood up to strike the first blow in this war, it didn’t matter who was a Republican and who was a Democrat. It didn’t matter who was gay and who was straight. The only distinction that mattered was between those who would kill and those who would stand against them. Six years later, we still need that moral clarity.

We will never be a nation united on every issue — nor should we be. What we should be is a nation united on a set of bedrock principles. We should be a nation that speaks with one voice, convincingly and clearly, and our enemies should know that we will never falter in our efforts to stop them. We live in a world created in large part by the Greatest Generation, people who stood against two of the most evil forces this world has ever seen, and defeated them forever.

When America stands united, miracles are possible. We owe it to all those who died this terrible day six years ago to stand united behind our values once again — else those deaths will have truly been for nothing.