Previously we called for a political “counterinsurgency,” and outlined the parallels between what General David Petraeus did in Iraq and what needs to change in American on the political right.
This week the Republican Convention should be about the Grand Old Party throwing off its old guard leadership and sparking an American awakening, not unlike the Anbar Awakening that began in Iraq two years ago.
The news this morning is that yesterday,
“U.S. commanders formally returned responsibility for keeping order in Anbar Province, once the heartland of the Sunni insurgency, to the Iraqi Army and police.”
Back when Barack Obama was calling for surrender in Iraq and immediate withdrawal, and his running mate Joe Biden was calling for the U.S. to unilaterally divide Iraq into three parts, capable American Army and Marine officers were playing an instrumental role in bringing about change in the deadly sector of Iraq called Anbar.
An article we linked to last month listed the reasons for the turnaround we’ve seen in Iraq:
- President George W. Bush’s surge of American forces (supported by John McCain).
- The Anbar Awakening of tribal sheiks against al Qaeda.
- The change to counterinsurgency tactics.
- The vast increase in the size and competence of the Iraqi Security Forces.
- The sheer number of enemy jihadists killed between 2003-8.
- The unexpected political savvy of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
- The magnetic leadership of Gen. David Petraeus.
By the way, the “additional five combat brigades of the surge sent to Iraq in 2007 are already redeployed out of the country.” You may have missed that in the news because the media has been less than enthusiastic about reporting information that might raise President Bush’s approval ratings or help the McCain campaign.
Now we need a domestic awakening. Just as the tribal sheiks were sickened by al Qaeda’s barbarity, Americans need to wake up to the simple fact that economic socialism (big government) has led to the kind of debt and corruption that should make clear thinking people sick.
Likewise, radical social policies lead only to the kind of depravity a civilized society shouldn’t tolerate. The notion that we’d even need to debate a Born Alive Infant Protection Act (the one that Barack Obama voted against), or allow the depravity in the streets of American cities (that Americans for Truth about Homosexuality chronicles) is more than enough evidence an awakening is needed.
If this election is supposed to be about change – the only political party that can accomplish it is an enlightened and cleaned up Republican Party. As one commentator noted,
With [Sarah] Palin on board, the change issue is no longer Obama’s exclusive possession. She and McCain are more likely to clash with special interest groups than are Obama and Biden, who have yet to buck a single liberal pressure group. Palin and McCain are more likely to produce both “change we can believe in” and “change we need.”
The news is that this is the worst political environment for the GOP in decades. This website has diagnosed the failure of our leaders and has prescribed specific actions which will lead to the cure. If we can see an awakening in Anbar, we can see one in the Republican Party.
