This was always the danger, really. If we invade Iraq, whether it's successful or not, once things start settling down there, will Americans forget about the wider war on terror?
Americans need to remember that the Iraq War is not meant to be an isolated action by the United States. It is just one part of a larger battle against an ideology currently sweeping the globe. (By the way, one thing is for sure: although I have serious disagreements with John McCain about other things, he is dead on in the War on Jihadism.) The strategic strengths of an Iraq invasion were these: 1) it is a nation with large populations of both Shi'a and Sunnis. A functioning, moderately pluralistic democracy here would be a dagger in the heart of Sunni-Shi'a sectarian battles. 2) It, like Afghanistan, borders Iran. With a large naval presence in the Persian Gulf, we now have the capability of initiating a debilitating blockade against Iran if the necessity arises. What's better, the Iranians know that option is on the table for us. 3) It has a large Shi'a majority. Militant Shi'a theocracy has a very short tradition; the Iranian Revolution of 1979 played a major role in its advancement, and an allied Iraqi democracy could do serious damage to that movement. 4) Eliminating the Hussein regime took away an important safe haven and source of funding from jihadist militants. Moreover, an allied Iraq gives us an important base of operations for moving against other jihadist safe havens and sources of funding.
Islamic terrorism is difficult to keep fighting politically, because when you're winning, the problem seems to have gone away. It's only obvious when you're losing. We need to keep reporting what Mark Steyn wrote about in his important book, America Alone (Buy at Amazon.com): around the world, madrassas teaching violent Islamic radicalism are raising a generation of jihadists against Israel and the West. In many Western nations, Muslim immigrants are becoming less assimilated to their adopted nations' cultures and demanding enforcement of shari'a law. Parisians' cars are burning, and it isn't because of global warming activists.
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