Under the threat of death, a higher proportion of Iraqis turned out to vote in the nation’s first post-Saddam elections than in most U.S. presidential elections. It is quite possible that a people long oppressed appreciate freedom more than the generations of Westerners who’ve grown soft because they haven’t had to die for rights like these.

You can’t tell me that the Iraqi people don’t understand the opportunity we’ve given them. You can’t tell me that Islam is incompatible with liberty. You can’t tell me that we should pull out now and abandon the Iraqis when they need us most. With a little luck and a lot of fortitude, history will record our rescue of Iraq alongside that of postwar Germany or Japan. But only if we don’t listen to the defeatists here at home.