A Chequer-Board of Nights and Days

The good folks at CENTCOM have forwarded me this translation (see also this PDF file) of Ayman al-Zawahiri's comments regarding Iraq (story here). Assuming that this is not some kind of hoax, it would appear to confirm a great many arguments and posts that Greg Djerejian has put forth regarding Iraq and the American presence there. Greg has oftentimes said that as the Iraqis stand up, we should make clear that we will stand up with them--something that would entail not leaving Iraq until we have trained and prepared the Iraqi security forces to maintain order in our stead. Quite obviously, this means leaving the time of our withdrawal open even though it would be good to fully and publicly define our goals and standards for a successful transition.

It is noteworthy as well that the letter focuses so much on the public relations war. It is high time that our own public relations strategy undergo a serious re-examination. Whether or not one was/is in favor of the Iraq war and the reconstruction, the goals are being explained poorly and the American ability to demonstrate a successful transition suffers as a result. I don't argue for a moment that a successful, Madison Avenue media strategy is all that is needed in order to fight the public relations war, but it would help if the public relations effort were more savvy--or at least, more easily noticeable--than it is now.