Should Republicans go ahead and add Supreme Court Justices to head off Democrats

Free people would not chose to live under Zarqawi

Jim Robbins:

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Our opponents' rhetoric has seldom been so literal. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union and its satellites attempted to mask the authoritarian consequences of socialist rule behind the term "people's democracy." They obscured the lines of cleavage between East and West by claiming to represent the same human aspirations of freedom, dignity and equality, but to do so more effectively.

The terrorists make no such claims. They do not promise to give people the liberties they want. Rather, they seek to supply the guidance they need. They make no pretense of allowing people to live freely. Instead, they want to force them to live justly.

All of this underscores a fundamental fact: No free people would voluntarily choose to live in the type of society Mr. al-Zarqawi advocates. This is why the terrorists resort to violence. They are seeking to compel people for their own good. Their acts are sanctified by their beliefs.

These contrasting approaches to nation-building were clearly demonstrated in preparations for today's elections in Iraq.

While the U.S.-led coalition seeks to promote voter participation through a media campaign that stresses hope for the future of the country, the terrorists hang posters showing headless bodies with thumbs ink-stained from the polling place.

Iraq, therefore, has become a critical test case in the struggle between these competing visions of humanity. The majority of Iraqis are eager to build a democratic state. They view the very fact of elections as a victory over their totalitarian past and over the terrorists' plans for their future. And most desire to live in a society that affords them the same freedoms and opportunities that citizens in established democracies take for granted.

The vote shows that Zarqawi and bin Laden have lost the "war of ideas."