Crime and strategically ineffective terror attacks are one thing. But today's prison break - tens of criminals free and police dead - is another entirely, and an indictment of the "kindler, gentler" approach many contingents of our military force have adopted. Consider this February 4th report:

A coalition of insurgent groups has vowed to take over cities vacated by U.S. troops, and warned of "harsh consequences" for Iraqis who resist, according to pamphlets circulating in this hotbed of anti-American resistance.

The pamphlets, signed by Muhammad's Army and other insurgent groups, began appearing Saturday in Ramadi and nearby Fallujah - both part of the dangerous Sunni Triangle region.

...Despite the threats, U.S. officials have expressed confidence Iraqi police will be able to handle the security situation.

...The U.S. Army has said it will gradually reduce its presence in Iraqi cities and hand over control to Iraqi security forces. The Army has so far given a detailed withdrawal plan only for the capital, Baghdad, which it envisages to be virtually free of U.S. troops by May.

I initially responded to the announcement of an accelerated power transfer with mixed feelings; drawing on the records of the Marshall Plan and Occupied Japan, less than eighteen months was not what I'd expected, particularly with Iraq still beset by organized and - as we've just witnessed - capable terrorist elements. I disagree with intimations that security concerns are the Iraqis' responsibility. A free Iraq, an open society, would be by definition a magnet to its surrounding region of strongmen, big and small. The American officials quoted in the above article were wrong. Iraqis are not for want of courage and heart, but after the Fallujah attack it's fairly obvious they would be no match for the onslaught of the dictatorial Near East. Iraq's challenge is a reflection of the wider war: the defense and expansion of human freedom and dignity will not always be picturesque, nor always politically advantageous, nor quickly concluded. Fallujah is one of the few epicenters of insurgency; it by no means represents Iraq. But through that distinction it represents an Iraq populated by terrorists and without Western military power. It is a city where public relations concerns left Iraqis in charge of security. Expediting America's responsibility for the sake of expediting points to abrupt, catastrophic failure.

A lingering fear of mine is that the American generation currently in politics is one raised to value short-term commitment, inoffensiveness and cultural relativism; and that the current war on terror, unprecedented as it is, will ultimately devolve into torpor because it is being prosecuted by weak-willed men, Democrat or Republican. I pray those fears are misplaced.

LET ME REFINE THIS: Or at least explain the emotional undercurrent. I woke up with what felt like a complete understanding of American foreign policy under John Kerry. We talk about it, we read about it, we debate it over and over; but in the waking state I could actually see it. Few details; but an impression. Withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan, rumors or reports of the myriad small unit actions in all corners of the earth wrapping up. Prostration before the United Nations; France, Germany, Russia and China. I could go on but if you think along my lines, the frightening narrative is a familiar one. I woke up to this and then read about Fallujah minutes later - cue stock footage of train wreck. That, I hope, puts the force of my entry into perspective.

QUICK TO FEAR, I WAS: Though we can't leave Iraq yet, they're far from helpless.