January 24, 2007
Maybe it’s because the retreat crowd says it so often that I have to repeatedly say the opposite. But today, I’ll let Liz Cheney, the vice president’s daughter and former deputy assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs speak for me.
In a column for yesterday’s Washington Post, Liz Cheney says retreat from Iraq is not an option. Victory is the only option. She notes that Hillary Clinton says she’s in the race to win, but she’s not in the war to win. Hillary hems and haws about her vote to authorize the war, but has no plan for victory.
Cheney says, “We’ll have to fight these terrorists to the death somewhere, sometime. We can’t negotiate or ‘solve’ their jihad. If we quit in Iraq now, we must get ready for a harder, longer, more deadly struggle later.”
Exactly right. Quitting helps the terrorists, who are already emboldened by our perceived wishy-washiness. The polls don’t help because the big media have been all about promoting the next democratic president. Cheney says “our soldiers will win if we let them.” This is a long war and we will either win it or lose it. We must win it.
Cal Thomas is a nationally syndicated columnist based in Washington, D.C.
