The Future is Now

Longtime readers of this site are well acquanted with the my support and positive views on the overall execution of the war in Iraq, so I'd like to offer some further counterpoints to current events there. Last Thursday the anti-government terrorists shot down a Bulgarian civilian helecopter, carrying "six US security contractors, three Bulgarian crew members and two Fijian security guards." At the end of the story, the BBC left these parting shots:

Insurgents seem to have stepped up attacks amid delays in forming a new government, the BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad reports.

This is true. I do not have any statistics, but from all news accounts that I have been following recently, there does seem to be an uptick attacks. However, like all events in war, it is important to keep a proper perspective. Bombs are still going off and assassination attempts are frequent--Iraq remains and extremely dangerous place. But the anti-government have yet to slow the democratic momentum in Iraq. Common Iraqis, of all backgrounds, are increasingly fed up with the murders who are trying to derail the country.

Firstly, Strategypage reports on what happened to the terrorists that shot down the Bulgarian helecopter:

Ten suspects have been arrested, for alleged involvement in the downing of a Bulgarian helicopters on the 21st. The suspected were pointed out by other Iraqis, in a pattern that is becoming increasingly common. The terrorists have been losing popular support, as well as angering Iraqis to the point where many Iraqis are no longer afraid to resist the gangs that control many villages and neighborhoods by fear. The terrorists are usually Sunni Arabs who either supported Saddam, or are violently opposed to the idea of the Shia majority running the country. Most Sunni Arabs don't really care who runs the place, as long as it is done with less violence and corruption than Saddam used.

Furthermore, how have the Iraqis been responding to the increased activity of terror attacks? Strategypage continues:

The terrorists continued their bombing campaign over the weekend, setting off explosions outside a mosque and a police station, killing at least twenty civilians, and wounding over 80. These tactics do not appear to be encouraging Iraqis to support the terrorists, or reduce popular support for the government. The Americans are no longer blamed for the bombings, although it's still popular to blame the attacks on Islamic "foreigners." Reluctantly, Iraqis have come to admit that there is such a thing as Islamic terrorism. What Iraqis have not yet come to grips with is the fact that many of the terrorists are Iraqi Islamic radicals. It's recognized that there are Iraqi terrorists, but these are generally tagged as diehard Saddam supporters. Many are, but the worst of this lot are on jihad, out to kill infidels and heretics like Shia Moslems and Sunnis who do not support the terrorists.

Although ultimate success for democracy in Iraq is a long-ways off, the terrorists cannot win this fight on the battlefield. They cannot engage Iraqi commando or police forces without getting beaten, and any attacks against American forces are suicidal. The only recourse they have left is to bomb soft-targets, and these attacks have only swayed Iraqi opinion against them. Unfortunately, these hard-core jihadis are going to fight to the death, and even though their cause loses support with each subsequent bombing, there will be more bloodshed until they are finally wiped off the map.

The terrorists have done more harm to the cause of jihad than any American or non-fundamentalist campaign could have ever done. Let's just pray that, for the sake of the Iraqi people, this ends sooner rather than later; hopefully with Zarqawi's lifeless body hanging from a rope in Firdos Square.

UPDATE: Strategypage has been an invaluable resource in providing accurate and detailed analysis on the war (I rely on their data quite a bit). I have yet to find any source anywhere that comes close, as most media outlets have had a rather "unhelpful" view in Iraq. If you are so inclined, they could use some support in keeping the site alive.