A lesson for Iraqis

An Iraqi policeman whose station was destroyed by terrorists says he would like to ask the bombers:

"Why don't you go and directly attack the Americans themselves instead of targeting your countrymen?"

Well, because the Americans would kill them. Duh. And if you want the Americans to leave, you'll have to kill them yourself or they'll kill you. Don't let anybody kid you about how if we all just disarm and show our enemies that we're no threat, they'll do the same. There are people in the world who would react with a smile and a spray of bullets. That's what evil is.

"I would love that security prevailed in Iraq, under conditions of freedom and democracy," the chief said. "Not the democracy of weapons and killings, but rather the democracy and freedom of thoughts and of constructive dialogue. Not of explosions."

What he and his countrymen need to learn is that democracy doesn't come without the willingness to defend it from men like Saddam and the Ba'athists who are now seeking to occupy the vacuum they think his ovethrow leaves behind. They need to learn the lesson that Americans have been taught by their history up until recently, that freedom for the ordinary people will always be threatened and must therefore be jealously guarded, even to the point of violence. Nobody else has reason to care. Islam is said to come from a root meaning peace, but if jihad means anything useful in this age, it means fighting to defend freedom, since judgment means nothing without it.