Why We Persevere
By William Caldwell IV
Wednesday, December 6, 2006; Page A25
BAGHDAD -- I don't see a civil war in Iraq. I don't see a constituency for civil war. The vast majority of the people want hope for their families, not to massacre their neighbors or divide their country. A poll conducted in June by the International Republican Institute, a nonpartisan group that promotes democracy, found 89 percent of Iraqis supporting a unity government representing all sects and ethnic communities. No wonder no "rebel army" steps forward to claim credit for vicious car bombs and cowardly executions of civilians.
I see debates among Iraqis -- often angry and sometimes divisive -- but arguments characteristic of political discourse, not political breakdown...
I see a representative government exercising control over the sole legitimate armed authority in Iraq, the Iraqi Security Force...
I don't see terrorist and criminal elements mounting campaigns for territory. Al-Qaeda in Iraq doesn't use roadside bombs, suicidal mass murderers and rocket barrages to gain and hold ground...Continue reading this bit of http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/05/AR2006120501128.html">lunacy