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August 14, 2007

Der Spiegel Changes Course in Iraq

Will wonders never cease? From Der Spiegel:

Ramadi is an irritating contradiction of almost everything the world thinks it knows about Iraq — it is proof that the US military is more successful than the world wants to believe. Ramadi demonstrates that large parts of Iraq — not just Anbar Province, but also many other rural areas along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers — are essentially pacified today. This is news the world doesn't hear: Ramadi, long a hotbed of unrest, a city that once formed the southwestern tip of the notorious "Sunni Triangle," is now telling a different story, a story of Americans who came here as liberators, became hated occupiers and are now the protectors of Iraqi reconstruction.

The article goes on for pages, explaining how leftist propaganda notwithstanding, America is winning our war against Islamic terrorism. What makes this amazing is that Der Spiegel has been instrumental in amplifying this very propaganda, usually to deafening levels. Not so long ago, they were feeding their readers this:

Now, they're writing this:

In many cities and villages in Iraq's 18 provinces, terrorist networks are either weaker or have been destroyed entirely. The number of attacks is declining, as is the number of racially or religiously motivated killings. […]

Earlier this year, thousands of attacks occurred every week, and hundreds died daily. It seemed that terror reigned supreme, that its resources were inexhaustible. But now the trend appears to be reversing itself. Terror is weakening, and its leaders, most recently al-Qaida's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, are issuing dramatic appeals to radical communities not to give up the fight. This is a good sign. […]

Something is happening in Iraq that is consistently concealed behind images of bombings. The situation that the White House and its deceptive advisors had erroneously predicted before their invasion — that the troops would be greeted with candy and flowers — could in fact still come true. That's already the case in many places. It's as if the terrorists have lost popular support, as if their acts of violence have driven the Iraqi people into the arms of the enemy, the Americans.

Davids Medienkritik tries to make sense of it:

We would speculate that SPIEGEL editors have finally reached the realization that the version of reality they have painstakingly crafted for the German public since the conflict began - one of failure, disaster, debacle and quagmire for the Americans in Iraq - is no longer tenable when compared to the facts on the ground and will ultimately collapse on their heads like a flimsy house of cards. But with many American Democrats still in full irrational disaster-mode on Iraq (despite obvious recent improvement with the surge) this seems a somewhat unusual and perhaps premature move. Only time will tell…

Speaking of defeatist Dems, Victor Davis Hanson has also noticed a shifting tide:

Do anti-war politicians frequently proclaim our defeat in Iraq — or instead worry that the war might be won? In the spring, Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., announced Iraq was lost, the surge a failure and Gen. Petraeus not "in touch." We haven't seen Sen. Reid much lately.

But we have heard from the House's majority whip, Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C. He's worried that Gen. Petraeus' good news about the surge might be "a real problem for us" — "us" being anti-war Democrats. And at a congressional briefing, when Gen. Jack Keane reviewed the positive signs from the surge, Rep. Nancy Boyda, D-Kan., walked out on the testimony. She complained that there was "only so much that you could take … after so much of the frustration of having to listen to what we listened to."

Even the New York Times went a long way toward acknowledging that we're winning by publishing "A War We Just Might Win" by liberal Bush-bashers Michael O'Hanlon and Kenneth Pollack.

Looks like Der Spiegel, like the Gray Lady, sees a winning horse and wants to place a bet on it. This is bad news for Democrats and their terrorist allies — but great news for civilization.

Posted by Van Helsing at August 14, 2007 7:22 AM

Comments

Posted by: Anonymous at August 14, 2007 7:43 AM