Enemies of the United States know how to win wars. Their main objective is take control of the American media.
One clear example of this was CNN’s broadcast of an obvious terrorist propaganda video of a US soldier being shot by a sniper. How did this in any way benefit the war effort? It didn’t. In fact, CNN never should have aired that segment. Next they will want to air beheadings, which if you’ve seen any of them, are so revolting, you need to have your vomit bag ready. If CNN was going for ‘shock’ value, they got it.

The insurgency in Iraq is not very strong, reports have stated. But they are strong willed. The one ally they have, however, is the media outlets in our country. If we continue to film it or air it on our stations, they will continue to perform for the camera with hope that the American people see what’s going on, see the amounts of casualties rise, and begin to go against the war. This is occurring. At the beginning of the war, well over 75% of the American population was in favor of toppling Saddam Hussein. Now in late 2006 that number has fallen to less than 45% in favor of the war depending on which poll you look at. The unfortunate reality of this conflict is that it is more of a struggle than a war. Our soldiers struggle daily to help the Iraqi army and security forces contain an insurgency. The Iraqi government is struggling to hold the country together. President Bush is struggling to make the American people understand what’s going on. As of late, unfortunately, President Bush has failed miserably.
His comparison of the latest insurgent attacks during the holy month of Ramadan with the Tet offensive in Vietnam was inaccurate. By conjuring up a statement about a war which went down in the books as the most embarrassing war in US history to prove a point about your current war was not a great idea. The only similarity with Ramadan now and the Tet offensive then is that it’s a holiday, the Vietnamese New Year. Ramadan is the most defining month for Muslims. The differences are severe. The Tet offensive was launched when most of the South Vietnamese army was celebrating the New Year and American commanders were assuming that the normal New Year cease-fire was being observed by both sides, so the soldiers were taking in some much needed R&R. The one thing Tet did accomplish was it changed most American’s outlook on the war in Vietnam. Even though the US ultimately won the battle, the amount of casualties coupled with growing frustration by many in Congress that we were simply not winning and in American homes on how the war was being handled brought the ultimate end to the war itself. Is this what President Bush was referring to? I certainly hope not.

We understand that if we are to pull out, it will open the door to neighboring countries to move in. As we know, Iran and Syria both have interest in controlling Iraq’s oil, if not the entire country. This is why they are supplying the insurgency with weapons, more terrorists, and instructions on how to conduct their guerilla campaign against the Americans.

“The broader Middle East is the source of most of the world's security problems," said Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq. "The struggle for the future of the region is between moderate and extremist political forces. The outcome in Iraq will profoundly shape this wider struggle and in turn, the security of the world."

The extremists, including Al Qaeda, Iran and Syria, fear Iraq's success and want to undermine U.S. resolve. They have everything to gain by prolonging the conflict, killing people, and "creating the perception that Iraq cannot be stabilized," Khalilzad said.

He called the war "the defining challenge of our era."
America's enemies believe that their will is stronger than ours and that they can win by outlasting us, Khalilzad said.

So as we struggle to determine whether or not our success in Iraq will help define democracy in the Middle East, we must realize that there is more at stake here than political opinions. Our soldiers see the faces of the Iraqi children every day. They see the excitement of the Iraqi men who are ready to join in defending their own country. Our soldiers know that the work they are doing is productive. They see it every day. Unfortunately, our media refuses to showcase those accomplishments, in favor of showing ‘snuff films’, so we are forced as a nation to second guess even our fellow Americans who are fighting to save a people from what could be their ultimate demise.