In keeping with yesterday's writing, here's another example of Iraqis' involvement in their liberated country, one that's of immediate pertinence:

The enthusiasm of U.S. Marine captains Thomas "Tad" Douglas and David Nevers can hardly be contained. Their voices, alternately crackling over a weak satellite-phone connection, are heartening as they describe the successes they are witnessing in Iraq. The insurgency is losing ground. Iraqi civilians, feeling less afraid than in previous months, are increasingly coming forward with solid information about the bad guys. And a new Iraqi special-operations force is taking the lead in wiping out guerilla strongholds, south of Baghdad. ...Today, some 175 Iraqis have made the team. They are taking the fight to the enemy, and, in many ways, are proving themselves capable of operating as an independent unit.

"This are an emerging force, and yet they are taking the lead in our operations against the insurgents," says Nevers. "We conducted an operation a month ago in which this force did most of the planning and then physically led the way. The operation was very successful, and it consequently set the stage for what we are doing right now."

..."With the Americans, we're the same team, no difference," [Iraqi SWAT Team commander] Col. [Salaam Abdul al] Kathom says, through an interpreter. "The training is very good. I am very, very happy with the progress. We will destroy the bad guys."

Who better to share the front on the war than people whose experiential understanding of terrorism and dictatorship makes them natural and able allies? How are 25 million silenced or coerced by a dictator preferable to the same number given the chance to, in liberty, "do what they ought"? The oblivious reactionism of John Kerry and John Edwards — who insist on excluding Iraqis from a place of equality, treating America's new friends as a burden rather than a blessing and a miracle — may be understandable, though no less insulting.

ELSEWHERE: Prime Minister Iyad Allawi visited recently purged Samarra, and in nearby Ramadi, Iraqi forces have been denying terrorists the use of mosques.