Their Best Bud Benazir

All of a sudden, anyone who's anyone loves a modern, liberal Muslim -- except al-Qaeda, of course -- and unless those liberal Muslims are in Iraq.

U.S. politicians who have long argued that Americans should not "babysit" Iraqis, who want democracy, now love Benazir Bhutto, who wanted democracy. The politicians want to leave Iraqi civilians to terrorists because, unlike al-Qaeda, they see the battlefield as a narrow one.

Now, those same politicians make it look as though they supported Bhutto all along. The Washington Post says that Hillary Clinton remembered her 12-year friendship with Bhutto. And the Post says "senior Obama adviser David Axelrod would later tie the killing to the Iraq war -- and Clinton's vote to approve it, which he argued diverted U.S resources from fighting terrorism in Afghanistan and Pakistan, both al-Qaeda hotbeds."

Yet it appears that al-Qaeda continues to see its role in fighting Westerners and modern, liberal Muslims as a global one, not something limited to Afghanistan and Pakistan. There's an unconfirmed report that says al-Qaeda took credit for the murder of Bhutto and several bystanders. Of course we don't know yet who is responsible, but it is worth mentioning the claim:

"We terminated the most precious American asset which vowed to defeat [the] mujahadeen," al-Qaeda is quoted as saying. The message is still being checked, but al-Qaeda certainly had made it clear that Benazir Bhutto was a target.

And the Associated Press reports today that a message from Osama Bin Laden is expected shortly. The story says terrorism monitoring group, SITE, says Bin Laden "will discuss Iraq and the group the Islamic State of Iraq, a longtime foe of the Iraqi government and U.S. forces."

I don't think we need any additional proof that al-Qaeda and their ilk think its their duty to murder modern, liberal Muslims wherever they are -- in addition to everyone else they disagree with.

Yes, I know it's often noted that Saddam Hussein had no ties to al-Qaeda. He probably didn't have direct connections with Bin Laden. But Saddam's support for Hamas terrorists who murdered families gathered at pizzerias and weddings in Israel is widely known. He gave cash to the Palestinian families of suicide murderers. Maybe there's no direct link. But I do hope some recognize the benefit in stopping Saddam's financial support of the terrorists.

Politicians and others can argue all they want that there is no connection between Iraq and the fight against terror. They can call for the abandonment of Iraq and claim it will have no impact on al-Qaeda. What matters is that the terrorists themselves can see the connection clearly.

I would like to point out that those who have declared Iraq a failure sometimes forget their own argument. WaPo's David Ignatius writes of "the assassination of this brave woman" today. He says, "Bhutto wasn't afraid of that tumultuous and sometimes deadly process of change, nor should anyone be."