One Hand Clapping

Let the other guys run away
Spain and the Philippines caved, but that's not altogether bad

First Spain, now the Philippines have surrendered to terrorist blackmail. Spain lost 200 dead in a truly grim and tragic attack in Madrid. The Spanish people, who once challenged England and France for control of the New World, three days later voted out the America-allied government of Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, and put in a socialist government headed by Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. Zapatero immediately announced all Spanish troops would be withdrawn from Iraq when their tour expired this summer. And they were.

Now the small Filipino detachment has just been withdrawn because al Qaeda kidnaped and threatened to behead civilian truck driver Angelo de la Cruz unless the Filipino soldiers left Iraq. There is also a report that the Philippines government has paid $6 million in ransom to the terrorists to get de la Cruz back.

There has been a lot of weeping and wailing at the cowardice of the Spanish and Filipino governments and their apparent inability to understand the nature of the war. This piece by Australia's foreign minister, Alexander Downer, is one recent example.

I say to the Spanish and Filipinos: Don't let the door knob hit you in the, well, you know.

There are two potential silver linings in their surrender that can work to our advantage, and will do so if we play it right:

These withdrawals, and others if they come, cement America's (and Britain's) place as "The Untouchables." Despite shedding more blood and spending more treasure than any other country in fighting Islamofascism, only we are guaranteed never to surrender. We suffered 15 times more civilian dead than Spain, on our own soil, and now have lost more than 1,000 killed in our armed forces. We are still there, and we are winning. Tactics such as kidnaping and beheading are brutal, but frankly are losing their shock value for the general public. They serve now only to reinforce the implacability necessary to defeat the enemy.

Al Qaeda surely now knows that Osama bin Laden was entirely wrong about America's steadfastness when he told al Jazeera,

We believe that the defeat of America is possible, with the help of God, and is even easier for us, God permitting, than the defeat of the Soviet Union was before. ...

We experienced the Americans through our brothers who went into combat against them in Somalia, for example. We found they had no power worthy of mention. ... America exited dragging its tails in failure, defeat, and ruin, caring for nothing.

It is simply impossible rationally to believe that any more, and we are proving it every day. Bin Laden once called America a "weak horse," an Arab metaphor, but none of his culture's peers can think that any more.

It lessens the chance that the United Nations will gain operational control over the democratization of Iraq or other inimical places (cough, Iran, cough). Remember, the UN has no troops of its own, and the willingness of small countries to provide combat forces to enforce the UN's will (assuming the UN ever actually finds a will to enforce) is not realistically to be expected.

Who does that leave, apart from Britain? Well, practically no one. Canada did yeoman's work in Afghanistan but waved goodbye for Iraq. Australia is a steadfast ally but with a small military. They have already committed pretty much what they can. France or Germany? The two countries probably couldn't muster a division for deployment combined. Except for the French Foreign Legion, they simply have no expeditionary capability. Italy has excellent armed forces, but would have a hard time deploying more than a reinforced brigade. Eastern European countries are highly interested in defeating Islamism, but not wealthy enough to lend large formations.

Apart from the United States and Britain, there are really no UN-member nations both capable and willing with enough power to stay the course for the long term. The UN needs our troops and/or treasure to enforce its will, but we don't need the UN to enforce ours.

So the withdrawal of the two minor powers of Spain and the Philippines should not be seen as an undivided setback. It has the virtue of adding clarity: the weak horses will fall out of the race and the strong horses will press to the finish. And it's more apparent every day that America is a very strong horse, indeed.

by Donald Sensing, 7/19/2004 05:39:20 AM. Permalink |

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