While Obama calls on Iraqis to celebrate the US military’s withdrawal from the cities, Al Qaeda and the insurgents are also rejoicing. From Pakistan to Somalia, Al Qaeda and their affiliates have waged successful war on the local governments. Those countries receiving sizable US military aid have been the most successful in surviving, while most other countries end up giving them safe haven or making painful concessions to the terrorists. The Bush administration’s initial short-sightedness with respect to the Iraq War led to the rise of a potent insurgency and the empowerment of Al Qaeda in Iraq, a mistake that Bush started to correct in his second term. Now, with most Americans agreeing that a withdrawal is in order while at the same time acknowledging that violence will probably increase, the problem is that neither the media nor the administration has explicitly explained that an increase in violence means an increase in the power of the insurgents and the terrorists. In other words, an increase in violence may lead to the reconstitution or permanent establishment of Al Qaeda in Iraq.

What this means to the average American is that the administration, in ceding ground to the terrorists in Iraq by withdrawing, something that most people agree must happen, should present a plan for fighting Al Qaeda in the region, particularly in Iraq. Thus far, the only actions taken against the terrorist organization is sending more troops to Afghanistan and giving aid to the Pakistani and Afghan governments. This does not acknowledge the fact that the threat is not localized there, but primarily across Asia and Africa. At the same time, suspected terrorists are being granted more civil rights, some of them have been and will be released, the administration is in secret talks with Al-Qaeda-allied Taliban, little has been done to strengthen our border security, and the White House has ordered the use of “less confrontational” language when discussing our war on terror. Americans have a right to know how we will deal with Al Qaeda after we fully withdraw, for if we simply allow them to rearm, all of the gains from our military campaign against the perpetrators of 911 will be wasted.

-AG