Vietnamizing Iraq

INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
Posted 8/7/2006

Iraq War: Tom Hayden has a new war to undermine, a new enemy to succor and a new Jane Fonda to attract the cameras. His stepped-up activity represents a growing alliance of Islamofascists and the far left.

It's not good news. Last weekend, the one-time Chicago Seven riot conspirator and radical Santa Monica state assemblyman paid a visit to Amman, Jordan, along with anti-war "peace mom" Cindy Sheehan and other fringe leftists, to meet anti-American Iraqi politicians.

One is Sunni dead-ender Salman al-Jumaili, who seeks the expulsion of U.S. troops from Iraq. Others are radical Shiites. They've all found new allies in these '60s-era leftists.

Hayden took Sheehan along in a new Geritol Jane Fonda role. That publicity stunt obscures bigger plans that go well beyond gun-turret agitating or gushy peace and reconciliation with the beheaders of Baghdad. Based on his own writings, the ex-'60s radical once married to Fonda now seeks to undermine and end the U.S. liberation of Iraq, something he even has a six-point plan for.

So this meeting — not the first he's had with these Iraqi terrorist supporters, by the way — is only the start of a Hayden war to weaken U.S. will as he did in his Vietnam-protester days. Hayden knows that the U.S. military can't be defeated unless America's resolve is weakened. That's where he sees his opportunity.

"Since the anti-war sentiment was a factor of public opinion during the presidential race that made Bush defer tough decisions, the movement needs to create an even greater force of opposition that will become indigestible," Hayden wrote on AlterNet.org. "Public opinion — if strategically focused — can end this war."
Islamofascists like the sound of this. "We have found a voice inside the U.S. that backs us," the AP quoted al-Jumaili as saying. "We told them that we in Iraq want to see the light at the end of the tunnel."

Together, they demand a full pullout of U.S. troops, a pledge of no U.S. military bases, and U.S. reparations to Iraq. It's part of the same agenda Hayden discussed when he met with radical Shiites in London last Sept. 28. On his own Web site, Hayden wrote of them:

"They are two years on the ground, I was told, and now seek a voice on the outside of Iraq. . . . They see themselves as the political wing of the resistance, which they define on three levels: the armed resistance, the political resistance and the community resistance against sectarianism. They include the Association of Muslim Scholars and have productive links with Muqtada al-Sadr's movement. They boycotted the January 2005 elections and have refused so far to meet with any American or British officials."

This is disturbing because it shows that Hayden and his Islamofascist pals are playing a power game. Unlike normal Iraqis and Americans who use the ballot box to express their political will, these friends of Tom know different degrees of publicity and pressure tactics.

It's a logical outgrowth of their failure to win much at the ballot box. It also shows that the radical left and the Islamofascists are back-scratching political operatives, with something to gain from one other.

Hayden's antics send the questionable message to Iraqi radicals that the U.S. will to win the war is weak and so they should continue the insurgency, never mind the military defeats.

The Islamofascists gain through affiliation with the wide leftist networks Hayden is associated with. With his imprimatur, they can shed the perception of being wild-eyed Muslim fanatics in the West and carry on with their political intimidation back home.

The timing of this trip is interesting. It seems to have been triggered by Israel's effort to defend itself. Some of Hayden's entourage in fact went to Lebanon supposedly to inspect damage and no doubt denounce Israel. Meanwhile, far-left radio and Internet sites have come alive with attacks on Israel.

If Hayden succeeds in his bid to Vietnamize the Iraq liberation effort, the result will be exactly what he's always sought: military defeat by wearing down the national will. His consorting with the least peaceable Iraqi political factions shows that his anti-American agenda hasn't changed at all, only that he's refined his tactics.