War on Terror: The Strategic View

For those following recent tactical advances in Iraq, this may be strategic good news.

Wretchard over at The Belmont Club has an excellent roundup on the tactical and, even more importantly, strategic perspectives.

Wretchard discusses Reuel Marc Gerecht's piece in The Weekly Standard subtitled "Forget gradualism and Iraqification--send in the Marines" while weaving his own (less than sanguine) thoughts on Iran into the analysis.

While the Sunni insurgency is not an intrinsically large problem and Falluja something that can be recovered with ease; an Iranian bomb or a Kerry victory are situations from which no recovery may be possible. Therefore the necessary (but not sufficient) condition for victory, not just in the Sunni triangle, may be a non-nuclear Iran and the election of a President at least partially committed to victory against terror. We can only say 'faster please' when the car is not in reverse. But as Gerecht implies, we will have to wait until November to see if we have any car left at all or whether Iraq will be the future scene of "My Cambodian Christmas in Baghdad".