I came across this article in the United Kingdom’s Times online publication. I’m firmly in the camp of those who say it is far too early to declare victory for the Bush doctrine of defeating terrorism through the power of freedom and democracy. But it does not hurt to reflect on just how much things have changed in the world since the U.S.A. received its wake-up call on the morning of September 11, 2001.

Little more than three years after US forces, backed by their faithful British allies, set foot in Afghanistan, the entire historical dynamic of this blighted region has already shifted.

Ignoring, fortunately, the assault from clever world opinion on America’s motives, its credibility and its ambitions, the Bush Administration set out not only to eliminate immediate threats but also to remake the Middle East. In the last month, the pace of progress has accelerated, and from Beirut to Kabul.

Confronted with this awkward turn of events, Reg’s angry successors are asking their cohorts: “What have the Americans ever done for us?” “Well, they did get rid of the Taleban in Afghanistan. ’Orrible bunch, they were.”

“All right, the Taleban, I grant you.”

“Then there was Iraq. Knocked off one of the nastiest dictators who ever lived and gave the whole nation a chance to pick its own rulers.”

“Yeah, all right. Fair enough. I didn’t like Saddam.”

“Libya gave up its nuclear weapons.”

“And then there’s Syria. Thousands of people on the streets of Lebanon. Syrians look like they’re pulling out.”

“I just heard Egypt’s going to hold free presidential elections for the first time. And Saudi Arabia just held elections too.”

“The Palestinians and the Israelis are talking again and they say there’s a real chance of peace this time.”

“All right, all right. But apart from liberating 50 million people in Iraq and Afghanistan, undermining dictatorships throughout the Arab world, spreading freedom and self-determination in the broader Middle East and moving the Palestinians and the Israelis towards a real chance of ending their centuries-long war, what have the Americans ever done for us?”

We’ve only just begun.

In addition to the satisfaction of watching these historic events unfold, it has been almost comical to watch the Bush hating crowd contort themselves in rage while claiming that these changes are occuring in the world in spite of Bush, not because of him. Yes, W is the luckiest SOB in history. The stupid monkey/evil genius has somehow managed to blunder into freeing millions of people while spreading the seeds of democracy in the heartland of despotism.

Vodkapundit Stephen Green shares an email from a Peace Corps volunteer that captures the angst of these so-called liberals when confronted with the reality that Bush may have actually been right:

A friend received an sms message from a Lebanese friend currently in Beirut. The message simply said “God Bless the USA”. We have very limited access to news so we immediately went online and started searching for news about the US. Was there a bombing? What happened?

While I was searching, she was messaging back and finally received a call from him. In lebanon the news was reporting that Syria was finally pulling troops out. People were having parties to celebrate. People were in the streets shouting “God Bless the USA” and “God Bless George Bush”.

Wow, this sounds like a time to celebrate right? But my friends looked like they had been punched in the stomach. Just that morning they had double teamed me and insisted that the bush regime was the most evil on the planet and of course in the history of the US.

So why were they not happy? One meekly commented that perhaps this was
actually the result of Iraq etc. in spite of Bush’s evil intentions.
The other simply kept quiet beyond asserting that it was a stupid mistake to think that Bush had anything to do with this development.

It was if their entire world was crashing down on them.

Pardon me while I gloat for 5 seconds………………………………….

Ok, enough of that. No time to waste on misguided fools, we have a job to finish.

Cross-posted at The Wide Awakes