Last Night in Washington

The State of the Union


"If American forces step back before Baghdad is secure, the Iraqi
government would be overrun by extremists on all sides. We could
expect an epic battle between Shia extremists backed by Iran, and
Sunni extremists aided by Al Qaeda and supporters of the old regime. A
contagion of violence could spill out across the country, and in time
the entire region could be drawn into the conflict.

For America, this is a nightmare scenario. For the enemy, this is the
objective. Chaos is their greatest ally in this struggle. And out of
chaos in Iraq would emerge an emboldened enemy with new safe havens,
new recruits, new resources and an even greater determination to harm
America. To allow this to happen would be to ignore the lessons of
Sept. 11 and invite tragedy. Ladies and gentlemen, nothing is more important
at this moment in our history than for America to succeed in the
Middle East, to succeed in Iraq and to spare the American people from
this danger."

McPickles News Analysis: Escalation won't prevent the coming civil war between the Shiites and Sunnis (which in fact, has already started).