In a New Year, Optimism...

Today's column by Ralph Peters, entitled "The Truth About Iraq" , gives a dozen reasons why we should be optimistic about Iraq, and with it the future of the Middle East and American national security as well. Link to the piece here -http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/59703.htm; I would just like to excerpt his opening, which speaks to the case the conservative blogosphere has been making tirelessly, and will be challenged to continue to make in 2006:

IRAQ made impressive progress in 2005. You wouldn't have known it from the daily news coverage or the surrender-now demands of left-wing extremists, but the long-suffering nation marched forward.
Here and abroad, the enemies of freedom insisted that failure was inevitable. Terrorists, insurgents, journalists with agendas, global America-haters and the Democratic Party's national leadership all tried to force our troops out of Iraq, no matter the consequences for the 26 million human beings who'd be left behind.
But the Iraqis refused to fail. Our troops refused to fail. And the Bush administration refused to fail.
Thank God.
Over the last 12 months, the pessimists called every major development wrong. But that won't stop them from doing everything they can again this year to devalue freedom, discredit democracy, drive Iraq toward civil war, encourage the terrorists and, above all, embarrass the Bush administration.

And this nugget, which warms the cackles of my neo-con heart:

WE should be encouraged by the progress in Iraq and heartened by the American people's distrust of elitist propaganda. From Hollywood's latest anti-American rant to the decaying New York Times, the stars of the America's Most Arrogant Show have had to learn yet again that we don't take orders from trust-fund snots, campus cowards or actors (when Alfred Hitchcock said, "Actors are cattle," he was being far too kind).
We, the people, support our troops. And we don't like it when cynical activists and political hacks try to exploit those in uniform. Americans will always trust G.I. Joe (and Jane) over the latte lizards at moveon.org.

Read the whole thinng with your morning coffee (or hangover remedy of choice); it will put a bounce to your step in the first hours of the New Year...