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The War in Iraq versus the War in Afghanistan

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Charles Krauthammer has posted a great op-ed that identifies and ridicules the current Democratic push to shift the focus from the conflict in Iraq to the struggles in Afghanistan.

As many of you know, nearly all of the most prominent Democrats have been arguing that the United States should be surging troops in Afghanistan and not in Iraq. This includes Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, Barak Obama, John Edwards, Joe Biden, John Kerry and Howard Dean.

However, Mr. Krauthammer argues that this position is particularly bad not only because it insinuates that the United States cannot afford to fight both wars, which he argues that we can. Instead, he elaborates:

[T]he United States is involved in two hot wars against radical Islamic insurgents. One is in Afghanistan, a geographically marginal backwater with no resources and no industrial or technological infrastructure. The other is in Iraq, one of the three principal Arab states, with untold oil wealth, an educated population, an advanced military and technological infrastructure that, though suffering decay in the later years of Saddam Hussein's rule, could easily be revived if it falls into the right (i.e., wrong) hands. Add to that the fact that its strategic location would give its rulers inordinate influence over the entire Persian Gulf region, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the Gulf states.

He also then goes to argue that Al-Qaeda too believes that the War in Iraq is a much more important battle to win:

Al-Qaeda has provided the answer many times. Osama bin Laden, the one whose presence in Afghanistan (or some cave on the border) presumably makes it the central front in the war on terror, has been explicit that "the most . . . serious issue today for the whole world is this Third World War that is raging in Iraq." Al-Qaeda's No. 2, Ayman Zawahiri, has declared that Iraq "is now the place for the greatest battle of Islam in this era."

And it's not just what al-Qaeda says, it's what al-Qaeda does. Where are they funneling the worldwide recruits for jihad? Where do all the deranged suicidists who want to die for Allah gravitate? It's no longer Afghanistan but Iraq. That's because they recognize the greater prize.

Lastly, the columnist claims that most of the Democrats are promoting combat in Afghanistan because they perceive that the conflict was of a politically "safer" origin than Operation Iraqi Freedom. Needless to say, our elected leaders need to focus on how things are today and what future course they are on not on what the Bush Administration should have done.

Edited by DarkWaters
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