*cough* *cough*

Digital dust... blech.

I must apologize for the long silence; I have no good excuse. In the mean time I've been making my peace with John McCain as the Republican nominee over the much preferred (by me) Fred Thompson. In spite of Senator McCain's manifold weakness, I think a positive case can be made for his election. I hope to post on that in the future, as I think it is important to point out that there is much in this election to vote FOR rather than AGAINST. Senator Obama provides much to vote AGAINST, but a mantra of "Anyone but..." is a losing slogan.

I have not forgotten my proposed list of blog topics, and it is a topic related to these about which I now post. Tonight I watched the movie Khartoum. It was months (perhaps even more than a year) ago when I first learned of the Siege of Khartoum, wherein a British general manned the defenses against an Islamist uprising. I found the narrative both fascinating and informative, and I wish I remembered my original source. Alas, I do not and must merely pay homage to some forgotten author.

In any case the move is one which is very relevant to the current waning conflict against radical practitioners of Islam. In 1881, a man named Muhammad Ahmad rose to power declaring himself to be the Mahdi (some sort of Muslim Messiah figure). He led a revolt and eventually conquered most of modern day Sudan, and in doing so established a Sharia state. The protagonist of Khartoum, General Charles Gordon, believed it was necessary to defeat the Mahdi and his army. To this end, he made a stand at the city of Khartoum.

The facts of the case are laid out in many sources, so I see no reason to reiterate them. I'll leave it as an exercise to the reader to gather them. My purpose here is first to recommend the movie. Khartoum is a reminder that what we fight is a radical ideology that is (1) barbaric and (2) merciless. While the United States was not involved in this specific conflict, it is another example of the West's continuing conflict with radical Islam.

My secondary purpose it to draw a conclusion from the presentation of events in the movie. While much is fictionalized, to be sure, the character of General Gordon appears to be consistent with the actual man as recorded by History (from my brief reading of other sources). In the movie, General Gordon seems convinced that he will achieve victory whether he lives and defeats the Mahdi's army or dies defending Khartoum. I believe that for General Gordon victory was not found in arms (though he certainly used them) but in staying true to his principals and fighting to defend them.

This lesson can also be drawn from our current battle in Iraq. We are victorious when we live up to the principals we profess. Conversely we lose when we abandon those principals. Michael Yon identifies those times when we have resorted to vengeance and torture as those times when we brought defeat upon ourselves (specifically he mentions Fallujah and Abu Grahb). It is his assessment (which can be found in his phenomenal book Moment of Truth in Iraq) that these incidents cost us precious credibility in the eyes of the Iraqi people because we abandoned our honor.

We are in a situation very different from that which General Gordon faced. We have overwhelming military force, yet we can still nearly snatch defeat from the jaws of victory by abandoning our honor. Fortunately we were given another chance, and we have taken it. It is my great hope that we will do the same in Afghanistan that we have done in Iraq. Perhaps our soldiers will actually get some real support for that battle from those whose name is followed with a "D."

Michael Yon's book, Moment of Truth in Iraq, can be purchased from the publisher here. Read it.
Khartoum can be rented at your local video store (hopefully) or purchased here.