Give the Iraqis the time we have bought them

John Cornyn:

For months, we have been waiting for progress, negotiations and political reconciliation and bringing the parties together and ending the divisiveness that has virtually halted accomplishing anything in the government.

It may sound like I'm talking about Iraq, but I'm referring to the U.S. Congress. Ironically, the same people who failed to deliver on their promises of reconciliation —the same people who have only finished one of 12 appropriations bills — have the effrontery to criticize the Iraqi government's lack of results.

Critics are changing their tune, however, following clear evidence that the surge is working. Rep. John Murtha, Pennsylvania Democrat, one of the loudest voices decrying the strategy and calling for a U.S. withdrawal, recently returned from Iraq and said, "the surge is working." It is encouraging to see more members of the majority party acknowledging our real military progress. More should follow suit.

Many Iraq critics have said they like Gen. David Petraeus, but that his surge strategy would not work. Then they said they don't believe him, and that the surge is not working. Now, in the face of undeniable military progress, their message has shifted to lack of political reconciliation.

But a congressman who accompanied Mr. Murtha, Rep. Norm Dicks, Washington Democrat, said: "I felt kinda embarrassed telling the Iraqis they had to get their act together and pass legislation when we can't do it back here."

We need to allow the Iraqi people time to establish their government and work out legitimate differences. I am a firm believer in accountability, but our own members of Congress are trying to hold others to a standard they have proven unable to meet themselves. Here at home, in our fully functioning democracy, the Democratic leadership in Congress has failed to meet the benchmarks they set in the run-up to last November's election.

Our own country's history has notable parallels to the situation in Iraq. After we declared independence from Great Britain, it took 11 years to implement the U.S. Constitution. Then, following the Civil War, we underwent the process of national reconciliation. That took us more than a decade. Building a democracy is not an overnight task, particularly in an area fraught with danger, including suicide bombings, sectarian murders and political assassinations.

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Actually I would argue that it took over a 100 years to achieve reconciliation after the Civil War. We still see remnants of those who have not reconciled with occasional battles over the Confederate battle flag. The Iraqis are making good progress at reconciliation on the grass roots level and the bottom up approach is a healthy sign and will be more long lasting than a top down approach urged by the Democrats. There is also the little fact that the purpose of the reconciliation effort was to lessen the violence. Now that the violence has been lessened the Democrats are attempting to move the goal post again in their desperation for defeat.

The victory we are winning in Iraq is much more important than what happens in Iraq. It has the potential of achieving a much more important strategic goal than just defeating al Qaeda. By demonstrating that we can defeat insurgency warfare we will probably face fewer adversaries wanting to fight us in the future. What really scares the Democrats about this is that it will take away their arguments against the use of force always leading to a quagmire. That is why it is important that we not only win this war but also persuade the public how wrong the Democrats have been and how disastrous their prescription of retreat and defeat would have been. That is the next challenge for Republicans.

John Cornyn is a senator from Texas who is up for reelection in 2008. He has been an effective advocate on the war and on other issues such as the judiciary. Democrats seem to recognize his intelligence and ability to craft resolutions that make them uncomfortable. He deserves to be reelected. His opponent is a liberal who wants to lose the war. I am optimistic that Texas will vote to keep him on the job. I know I will.