Supporters of our troops and the war in Iraq have long stated that comments made by liberal U.S. politicians, anti-war groups and a liberal media embolden the enemy and prolong the struggle.
Now, U.S. News and World Report brings word of a study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
The paper, entitled "Is There an 'Emboldenment' Effect in Iraq? Evidence From the Insurgency in Iraq," included these findings:
In periods immediately after a spike in "antiresolve" statements in the American media, the level of insurgent attacks increases between 7 and 10 percent.
Insurgent organizations are strategic actors, meaning that whatever their motivations, religious or ideological, they will respond to incentives and disincentives.
I wonder how many dead loved ones that 7-10% equates to? I wonder how many deaths are on the heads of the malcontents that reflexively hate-America-first and political opportunists who exploit bad news for political gain?
If anti-war people really wanted to end things more quickly and save lives, they'd get with the program so the enemy would see unwavering resolve and throw in the towel more quickly. The current news coverage and public dialogue (if you can call it that) serves only to encourage them to hold on until the weak Americans give up and go home--as we did in Vietnam.
The article points out some caveats such as the fact that it left out the city of Baghdad, but I can't see how the percentages and the cause/effect could be any different there.
Everyone has freedom of speech in a free society. But our words can have consequences. We used to understand this in our parents and our parents-parents generations; in World War II, some people disagreed with the war, but they pulled together for the greater good and to save lives.
For the sake of our military members, and the civilians in harm's way in Iraq and other locations, I wish everyone could summon that kind of maturity in our current struggle.
0 comments:
Post a Comment