War For Freedom

Jonah Goldberg points out that, in spite of what Richard Cohen or Pat Buchanan says, the recent statements of al-Zarqawi prove that the war is a fight for freedom.

In short, the notion that America is in a war for freedom over tyranny has elicited bipartisan snickering and guffawing. In the wake of Bush's inaugural, the chorus of complaints intensified. And understandably so, given the fact that his address was the most forceful articulation of his "freedom" vision to date.

But before the cackles could reach their crescendo, the naysayers hit an inconvenient snag. Musab al-Zarqawi, the "prince" of al Qaeda in Iraq, appointed by Osama Bin Laden, came out and agreed with President Bush. "We have declared a fierce war on this evil principle of democracy and those who follow this wrong ideology," Zarqawi declared in a statement. "Democracy is also based on the right to choose your religion," he said, and that is "against the rule of God."

You can almost hear Cohen and Buchanan snapping their pencils "Darn it, stop stepping on my message!"

I drove to work today behind a car that had a bumper sicker inside the back window. The first line "The War on Iraq" was clearly visible through the defrosted region of the glass but the second line (certainly a snarky-anti-Bush, anti-War comment) was obscured by ice. I laughed in my car, "Man, I thought I was a supporter! This guy has a 'War on Iraq' bumper sticker..."

Freedom on the March Posted by jk at January 26, 2005 10:37 AM