Have tactics switched again? During the April Khomeinist-Ba'athist offensive, more than one observer noted the absence of murder-bombings — targeted or indiscriminate. Now that the military confrontations of last month have largely subsided, it seems one group or the other has reverted to the cowardly work of killing Iraqi partners of the Allies to thin and intimidate their numbers. A few women translators died over the weekend, shot in their homes or en route to work; the current head of the Iraqi Governing Council, Izzedin Salim, was murdered this morning. When insurgents can't muster the force strength to cause havoc in numbers, they'll bide their time sniping at people who work for Iraq's better future. Baghdad is a target within the reach of both terrorist combines: it's a part of the Sunni Triangle on one hand and houses the Shiite slum of so-called Sadr City, one place from where Muqtada al-Sadr recruits his mob. Either group is suitably despicable. And so it seems that the "quiet" enjoyed in recent days will be relative.
If Americans are contemplating panic, if Europe and the left aren't looking forward to another round of misanthropic tongue-clucking, they should look to Baghdad: Salim's post has been refilled and the Governing Council, indeed, the Iraqis, are pressing forward. Who's looking for a "turning point"? The Iraqis, natural allies of ours against terrorists, have responded to a year of deadly trials with a greater thirst for freedom than ever. Far from enervation, these brutal killings will only encourage them. As Glenn Reynolds writes this morning, this is what terrorists fear: faced with slavery, people will eagerly face death to win liberty. The Iraqis were enslaved for twenty years under Saddam and twenty years before that. The Allies have given them the first — and probably last — opportunity to live freely. For Islamofascism, a country full of would-be discontents will be lost, an enemy gained.
The last response Americans choose for Salim's murder or any other atrocities to be faced in days ahead should be discouragement. We should be calmly circumspect and recognize two things: a blessing and a warning. The warning is that the substance and intent of our authoritarian enemy is clear, and surrender to such a depraved lot overseas would not only be a fatal moral failure but an invitation for our own destruction, one car bomb — or dirty bomb — at a time. The blessing is that of the resilience and common purpose of good men from all nations; that it is not ironic we should be offering to others our own coveted way of life to save ourselves.
I WILL FOLLOW: We can learn a lot from the Iraqis themselves. Says Omar:
Are we sad? Yes of course, but we’re absolutely not discouraged because we know our enemies and we know their ways and we decided to go in this battle to the end. They think they can force us to give up but they’re totally mistaken. I’ve tasted freedom, my friends and I’d rather die fighting to preserve my freedom before I find myself trapped in another nightmare of blood and oppression.
They're ready to stand firm. Are we?
