The Gold Medal Whopper of the Week

Ralph Peters:

IF a Web site were created just to record the daily lies of world leaders, politicians and other invertebrates, overwork would soon wipe out its staff. But sometimes a week delivers such breathtaking dishonesty that someone has to step in to award the bronze, silver and gold. Here goes:

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* This week's gold liars medal goes to . . . the Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill who have publicly declared that "the war in Iraq is lost."

Great morale-builder for the troops, fellas. It must be a comfort to them to go into combat knowing you've declared their sacrifices worthless. Of course, those men and women in uniform on the streets of Baghdad or Ramadi don't know what's going on in Iraq. The only clear view is from a D.C. steakhouse.

The truth is that the war in Iraq isn't lost. Nor is it won. Thanks to myriad blunders (and the Democrats' cheerleading for our enemies), it's been a long and miserable stand-off. Yet we're finally making military progress, however belatedly. That might not be enough to win (we need the Iraqis to get their act together for that), but we are not losing.

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Iraq is frustrating. The Iraqi leadership's penchant for squabbling and grabbing while the country bleeds is disgusting. But the war isn't just about Iraq's irresponsible government - if it were, I'd suggest leaving tomorrow. If al Qaeda gets to declare victory (which it'll do, even if the Shias slaughter the Sunni Arabs), we're going to pay in blood for a long, long time.

Can we win? I don't know; none of us do. That's war, folks. But to declare a conflict lost just when we're finally seeing signs, however limited, of progress against America's terrorist enemies is madness.

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We will only lose this war in Washington and not in Iraq. The enemy cannot defeat our forces. It cannot win the hearts and minds of the Iraqis, but it is making progress in teh hearts and minds of some politicians of faint heart.

BTW, his bronze medal goes to the Serbs and his Silver goes to Zimbabwe's Mugabe.