Imagine just for a moment that you are a terrorist lieutenant hidden deep within a Sunni
neighborhood in Baghdad, Kirkuk, or Tikrit. You and the secretive operatives under your command have been
carrying out successful attacks against American forces, Iraqi policemen, and Iraqi citizens for months now.
The strife against agents of the Great Satan and backslidden Muslims around you comes with a price, though, and
you’ve seen these enemies kill or capture many of your men. You’ve even heard that other units within your
network of insurgents have been completely obliterated. You wonder how much longer the steady stream of
replacements from Saudi, Pakistan and Syria can keep up with the casualties you’re experiencing. You pause to
ponder how grateful you are to Allah that the efforts of your troops and the rest of the jihadists continue to be
emphasized and trumpeted throughout the world via the press.
It must be an act of Allah, you surmise, that even the press in the infidel countries of Europe and, especially,
the United States choose to focus so much on your actions rather than reporting the relative peace of the majority
of Iraq and the great strides towards democracy that the people of Iraq have made. You thank Allah for positive
morale and resolute determination that you’ve seen grow in your men as they see on TV American politicians rail
against military involvement in Iraq. You look at your men and wonder about how many would not have decided to
join this struggle had it not been for the constant condemnation of Bush's war from a large number of Americans, the
hope-filling cries of quagmire and Viet Nam, and the incessant calls for American troops to abandon the struggle.
Even so, these forces are strong and, to hear Bush speak, America is determined to fight you until you are
incapable of waging war. If only you knew how long they would stay. If only there were some indication
of how much longer you need to resist them. A particular month would suffice. Then, you could tell your
men, "just hang on until then, and the enemy will leave us, and we will be free to punish these infidels and
create another Taliban here in Iraq."
"But," you think to yourself, "the enemy would never provide us with such a motivational tool. They would
be fools to name the day or the month of their withdrawal. Surely they know that to offer such information
would greatly increase the insurgents resolve and practically ensure your victory."
Roused from your thoughts by the sounds of your favorite news program on al Jazeera, you walk inside and sit down
in front of your TV. Then you wipe your eyes in incredulity at the lead story that evening. The reporter
is interviewing several American politicians who are - are they really? – yes, they’re calling for a timetable for
withdrawing American troops from Iraq! Buoyed by this unbelievable possibility, you whisper praises to Allah
and pray that this timetable becomes a reality.
Let me bring you out of your imaginings and whisper a prayer myself that America will never set a deadline for
leaving Iraq. Certainly few things, the favorable press coverage included, would be as welcome to the
terrorists in Iraq as that. We must stay there until the job is done, or at least until the Iraqis are strong
enough to finish it themselves - no matter how long that takes.
