Metrics and the War on Isalmofascism

Michael Barone has a very interesting column on some numbers that we aren't hearing about in the MSM.

But the most important changes occurring, not just in Iraq but across the Muslim world, are changes in people's minds. These are harder, but not impossible, to measure. George W. Bush has proclaimed that we are working to build democracy in Iraq not just for Iraqis but in order to advance freedom and defeat fanatical Islamist terrorism around the world. Now comes the Pew Global Attitudes Project's recent survey of opinion in six Muslim countries to tell us that progress is being made in achieving that goal. Minds are being changed and in the right direction.

Most important, support for terrorism in defense of Islam has "declined dramatically," in the Pew report's words, in Muslim countries, except in Jordan (which has a Palestinian majority) and Turkey, where support has remained a low 14 percent. It has fallen in Indonesia (from 27 to 15 percent since 2002), Pakistan (from 41 to 25 percent since 2004), Morocco (from 40 to 13 percent since 2004), and among Muslims in Lebanon (from 73 to 26 percent since 2002). Support for suicide bombings against Americans in Iraq has also declined. The percentage reporting some confidence in Osama bin Laden is now under 10 percent in Lebanon and Turkey and has fallen sharply in Indonesia.

Similarly, when asked whether democracy was a western way of doing things or could work well in their own country, between 77 and 83 percent in Lebanon, Morocco, Jordan, and Indonesia say it could work in their country--in each case a significant increase from earlier surveys. In Turkey, with its sharp political divisions, and Pakistan, with its checkered history, the percentages hover around 50 percent.

So while the constant drum beat of death tolls and negative news from the MSM takes its toll on American support for the war in Iraq, the positive effects of the improving situation there can be felt in the region itself.

One must ask why the shift in these numbers? Clearly, as Arabs are seeing Iraqis make their own destiny, others want to do the same. Note the changes in Lebanon, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait, for examples.

We are on the verge of solving one of mankinds most contended hotspots. Surely that is worth fighting for... This is not the time to get all wobbily in the knees.