Why Democrats cannot end the war

Cal Thomas:

Before Congress adjourned last week on another of its long holidays, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi repeated a phrase she uses about the war in Iraq. She again referred to it as "the Bush policy of unending war in Iraq."
She got it partly right. It is an unending war, at least until one side vanquishes the other. There will be no truce; no "38th Parallel" as with the two Koreas. This war will be unending, not because of the "Bush policy," but because of the Islamofascists whose jihad they believe is a direct order from their "compassionate and merciful" God. Some compassion; some mercy.
If the dominant surrender wing of the Democratic Party has its way, American troops would immediately come home, causing all of Iraq to devolve into murderous chaos. There would be religious retribution against those who not only worship differently from the majority but also the murder of "collaborators," meaning those who voted, assisted in writing Iraq's constitution and helped the United States while trying to help themselves.
As the Pentagon reportedly drafts scenarios related to U.S. troop withdrawal, the enemy plans for victory. Al Qaeda's No. 2 (an appropriate designation for those who can remember junior high school humor), Ayman al-Zawahri, has urged his supporters to extend the "holy war" to other Middle Eastern countries. Zawahri sent a letter to the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, claiming al Qaeda is defeating U.S. forces and urging followers to expand their campaign of terror. Clearly, Zawahri sees this as an unending war. He is not planning a pullback of his forces, but urging them on.
In Lebanon, a country that until last summer's disastrous war between Israel and Hezbollah had enjoyed a level of peace and prosperity, Islamic forces in the siege at the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp reportedly have spent months digging underground bunkers in advance of an anticipated battle they promise will last "two years or more." The Sunday Telegraph reports Shihab al-Qaddour, the deputy leader of the Fatah Islam group (another No. 2), said his band of several hundred "battle-hardened" fighters had built extensive subterranean fortifications. Fatah's military commander is quoted as saying his group is "ready to blow up every place in Lebanon." Unending.
The SITE Institute, which monitors jihadist Web sites from its base in the U.S., reports a flood of support for Fatah Islam from members of Internet forums affiliated with al Qaeda since fighting broke out little more than a week ago. Democrats repeatedly say we should only be fighting al Qaeda, so does that mean we should invade Lebanon? Since al Qaeda is in Iraq, shouldn't we continue the fight there until we and the Iraqis prevail?
This political battle in America isn't about al Qaeda and it isn't about victory, otherwise Democrats would be trying to help their country win in Iraq, not just for the sake of Iraq, but for their country's sake. Instead, the liberal and controlling wing of their party cares more about political victory here than ending this war with victory for Iraq, establishing a second democracy in the region and teaching the jihadists a lesson they will not soon forget.
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It is issues of war that make clear that Democrats are not nearly as smart as they think they are. in 2004 they campaigned on fighting a smarter war and in 2006 they insisted that they were not for a cut and run policy and now they make the presumptuous claim that they can end a war the other side does not want to quit. A lack of resistance without submission to al Qaeda's weird religious beliefs will not end the war or the killing, but it will get a lot more Americans killed.

Ed Koch also sees that leaving Iraq does not mean the war will end.

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In other words, the terrorist jihad will continue and many of the terrorists will be those who are now fighting in Iraq. It cannot be stated often enough that the goal of the Islamic terrorists is the destruction of Western civilization and the restoration of the caliphate. The caliphate would unite all Muslims in one theocratic state, running from and including Spain to Indonesia, encompassing nearly 1.4 billion Muslims.

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The Muslim way of war is to make people believe that victory is not worth it in their space. This has worked to their detriment for centuries, but we can no longer ignore these people and their weird religious beliefs.