Enlightened Americans – voices amplified by the Mass Media – are pressing the campaign to get American soldiers out of Iraq quickly. The “news” coverage plays on the fear that Iraq might become another Vietnam.

The Enlightened Ones think military intervention in Iraq was unnecessary. They cling to an 18th-century belief in human rationality and insist that conflict must be resolved through “diplomatic solutions.” Given time, they believe, the United Nations would have resolved the issue of Saddam’s WMDs in a peaceful manner, without resorting to military force. It is an article of faith the historical record does not justify.

Such naïveté is a dangerous luxury, and it’s not just the irrational faith in humanity’s goodness that puts us all at peril. There’s also the refusal to acknowledge the depravity of fanatical Islam, especially as it is revealed in the person of Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Enlightened Ones not only believe the U.S. shouldn’t intervene militarily to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, they also think Ahmadinejad should be recruited to help bring stability to Iraq.

This is a man who sees himself as the forerunner of the Mahdi, a Shiite prophet who is expected to return in a time of unprecedented calamity to bring peace and justice to the earth – the kind of peace and justice Sharia law brought to Afghanistan under the Taliban tyranny. Part of the forerunner’s role is to create the turmoil that will cause the Mahdi to reveal himself.

‘Naïve’ is not a strong enough word to describe someone who would suggest calling on Ahmadinejad to help bring stability to the Middle East. This is a man who, in 2005, called Israel a “disgraceful stain” that must be “eliminated from the pages of history.”

Chuck Colson has it right: “Now, imagine him with nuclear weapons, in effective control of most of the world’s oil, the United States having cut and run, abandoning the region, and Europe unconcerned.”

The Mass Media mock George Bush for deciding to take his time formulating a new strategy in Iraq, rather than readily adopting the conclusions of the Iraq Study Group. Our prayer is that President Bush’s decision will be informed more by hard reality than wishful thinking. At stake is nothing less than the preservation of just, free, civilized society.

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An interesting post about the influence of the Mass Media on popular opinion about the war.