It's obvious that we must continue with what we have started in order to achieve a military success in Iraq, save face as a nation and maintain our international influence. But to say that we will be victorious simply by ousting Saddam Hussein is off point. Military action has now become so intertwined with the realization of strategic goals that a military victory cannot be separated from a diplomatic victory. The point is that if we simply finish up in Iraq after ousting Saddam and fail to establish an Iraqi-run, independent, self-sufficient and democratic government in postwar Iraq, the military action we took there will be nothing short of a failure.

This situation would serve to encourage as many, if not more, would-be terrorists as in the scenario of leaving Iraq before forcing a regime change. Most Arab nations have no problem with getting rid of Saddam, their apprehension is towards our intentions for doing it. If we, as America, fail to follow up diplomatically after the military victory, we will confirm every complaint that Arab nations have with our foreign policy.

To paraphrase a response by a Kuwaiti diplomat in a recent New York Times interview, the question that Americans will have to ask themselves is this: Why exactly is it that these people [Arabs] hate us so much?