September 24, 2003 - I keep hearing all of the political talking heads, especially the liberal ones, saying that "we” have to do more in Iraqi. They say "we” have to solicit more help from the international community. They say "we” are not securing the peace there and that "we” are locked into an ever-downward spiraling quagmire. Beside the fact that I disagree with the latter statement I have a newsflash for these oh so dire talking heads, "we” can’t do anything when it comes to Iraq but what the Iraqis want us to do. "We” handed sovereignty over to the Iraqi Governing Council because outspoken – some would say loud-mouthed – elements of "we” were screaming for President Bush to get out of Iraq as quickly as possible.

It would seem that the liberal and impatient elements of "we” didn’t hear President Bush in the very beginning of this crucial and necessary fight for democracy around the world. To most people it was stated quite clearly, the liberation of Iraq – which is most certainly one of the battles in the War on Terror – would be a long and difficult struggle, a struggle requiring sacrifice in the name of freedom. I know I heard it as plain as day directly from the president’s mouth. He didn’t sugarcoat it. He didn’t "nuance” it. He was as plainly and as straightforward as is humanly possible. It couldn’t have been any clearer.

This leads me to believe one of two things; either the liberal left in this country has the attention span of a retarded gnat or they are deliberately choosing to ignore what they were told prior to our commitment in Iraq. Neither scenario would surprise me in the least and to be quite honest the possibility that it could be a combination of the two is great.

It is sometimes easy to get caught up in the events of politics, especially during an election cycle as charged with partisanship as this one. But it’s a bit easier to see why some around the globe call us arrogant when they hear our liberals saying that "we” have to do this or that with regard to Iraq when it has been established that Iraq is now a sovereign nation. I suppose this is where the "Ugly American” moniker comes from, in part.

Even as the Iraqi Prime Minister was addressing the United Nations, taking his rightful seat as the leader of Iraq, albeit until the free and legitimate elections are held next January, the liberals were still talking about what "we” have to do in Iraq. They haven’t once accepted the fact that "we” are now there as a stabilizing force working in conjunction with the Iraqi military and their government. While they chastise President Bush for "going it alone” and acting "unilaterally” – both of which are starkly false claims – they have no problem making unilateral decisions for the established Iraqi government, "going it alone” by dictating to them what "we” need to do.

It is exclusively Prime Minister Ayad Allawi’s position in the world to ask the UN and the international community for aid in the reconstruction of his country, not President Bush’s. It is Allawi’s duty to ask the international community for aid in securing his country against the terrorist infidels who would slaughter innocent women and children in the name of a hijacked religion, not President Bush’s. The days of the US implementing any idea "we” would chose in Iraq ended with the handover of sovereign power to the Iraqi people on June 28th, 2004. The responsibility of enlisting aid and approving methodology for moving their country down the road to democracy rests solely uopn the Iraqi citizenry. "We” are there to aid them in that quest not to dictate what they should do.

While there are some that would scream that it’s American blood being spilled for the Iraqi cause I would say that they are correct. But I would also say that freedom wasn’t free for us prior to the Revolutionary War, a war in which many a foreign fighter lost his life in the pursuit of our freedom. It would be extremely disingenuous for us to place the onus of liberty and freedom expressly on rhetoric rather than deed now that we are wealthy and privileged with liberties to the extent that we allow political correctness to push us to the borders of quasi-socialism.

President Bush has said repeatedly that we will stay the course in Iraq, in the War on Terror, until our work is done. That is something we cannot depend on John Kerry to do. But we must remember that "we” are a partner in Iraq. "We” got rid of a dictator there. "We” don’t need to become their new one.