Lynn Woolley
Tuesday, May 11, 2004

But a lot of things are backward in today’s up-is-down politically correct world.

On Sunday morning, for example, a war veteran who should know better, Republican Senator John McCain made the rounds of Sunday talk shows bellowing about how we should be apologizing for the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal. Never mind that President Bush has been groveling for days – first in the Rose Garden, and then in his weekly radio address, and probably for weeks still to come.

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was scolded on TV not only by Senator McCain but also by Senator Kennedy, whose moral authority is not open to question. And yet the calls for still more apologies are streaming from the media – who, just days ago, were demanding during President Bush’s news conference that he apologize for everything from 9/11 to the failure to find WMD in Iraq.

Not only do some members of Congress and many left-leaning pundits want more apologies, but they also want the immediate firing of Secretary Rumsfeld.

The world of politics has never been crazier.

First of all, we must remember that we are in a war. To shake up the very foundation of the Pentagon in the middle of battles such as the one now going on at Fallujah would be devastating to the military. It might be politically beneficial for the president to let Rumsfeld go – but it wouldn’t help win the war. In fact, the uncertainty that would result from such dramatic changes would endanger the lives of our soldiers.

And second, the apologies emanating from the highest levels of command are also putting our soldiers at risk. There is a right way to handle the terrible prisoner abuse in Iraq, but this is not it.

The president should have addressed the American people – and the world – with a major broadcast speech. He should have explained the situation and expressed measured concern about it. He should have detailed exactly what is being done and stated flatly that it will not happen again. He should have told the world that while the abuses were regrettable, they pale in comparison to the abuses wreaked by Saddam Hussein on his own people. He should have made mention of the horrific events of 9/11 and of American bodies being mutilated in Fallujah.

“And now,” the president SHOULD have said, “we will return to the job the American people and the world expect us to be doing. And that is to complete our task in Iraq and destroy terrorism wherever we find it.” And then the president and his team should have refused further comment.

But instead, the endless apologies continue and those who hate America sit, huddled in their caves, smug and pleased at this major propaganda victory.

The fact is that Middle Eastern terrorists accomplish their goals by seeking out weakness on the part of the enemy. Any backing down (and the apologies certainly qualify) is seen as weakness and gives the terrorists the will to fight ever harder. And that means American lives will be lost as a result of this utterly insane policy.

One last thing: Following the controversial episode of “Nightline” during which ABC’s Ted Koppel ran the names and images of those lost in Iraq, FOX’s Chris Wallace decided to add some context. Instead of running just names, Wallace showed what they were accomplishing when they were killed. On “FOX News Sunday,” he ran though a litany of what has been going on that “Nightline” never told you about. He listed such things as textbooks in schools, electric power at levels unheard of during the reign of Saddam, and even the right to protest against those who came to free them.

So many things seem backward right now. There’s been little, if any, apology from the Islamic world for the loss of 3,000 lives on 9/11.

There was little, if any, condemnation of the mutilation of Americans in Fallujah. And yet, when an aberration is discovered and American soldiers are caught doing what is standard procedure in the Arab world, it seems that there cannot be enough apologies.

If the worst happens – if this scandal causes the war to go badly; if Rumsfeld resigns; if more U.S. soldiers are killed; if we decide to pull out of Iraq – the people there will certainly be much worse off than they are now. They will lose their newfound freedom and will almost certainly fall into civil war to determine who their next dictator will be.

The hearts and minds of the American people are with the Iraqis for now. If that changes, the world may come to wish that we had spent more time winning the war and less time making apologies.

Lynn Woolley’s book, “Clear Moral Objectives” is available from Lynn’s web site, www.BeLogical.com.