The President dramatically put to rest many conservatives’ fears tonight that he might follow the worst recommendations of the Surrender-Everything-Now, er, Iraq Study Group:  he means to win.  And so do we.

First line of attack:  stop Iran and Syria.  Period.  The ISG wanted to negotiate with these terror states.  George Bush wants to end their secret war against us and against the people of Iraq.  There’s a world of difference, one we must now carry through.

The troop surge is essential, and TheVanguard.Org has called for it now for some time. The key is what we do with it.  If the new forces are proactive, hunting terrorists rather than defending territory, they’ll win.  This has been true throughout the past three years, in fact, and we have one last big shot to prove it before the Dumocrats fold up our tents.  If George W. Bush gets this point, victory is assured.  If not, things could get ugly.

But all indications are he does.  And well he should.  Iraq is muddling through in many ways, but most of them relate to foreign al Qaeda terrorists, foreign Iranian agents, foreign Syrian (Ba’athist) arms, and foreign (U.S.) media undermining Iraq and America at every turn.  But Iraq — with one of the highest economic growth rates in the world, a booming housing market, skyrocketing salaries, schools bursting at the seams, and a new democracy with three clean, widely-supported elections under its belt, has every chance not only for lasting freedom but to be a shining example to the Muslim world (and indeed, the world at large).

For us to do anything that could jeopardize that — through action or inaction — would be not only tragic and unconscionable, but every bit as criminal as Saddam Hussein himself.

For those of you who feel the same, sign our Petition for Victory at TheVanguard.Org.  Tell Washington:  we demand nothing less.

We are fortunate to have added Nicholas Stehle as one of our regular bloggers.  His Techblog.TheVanguard.Org is great, and well worth keeping up with everyday.

Oh, and by the way:  his post on Apple’s new iPhone is a great example of what I’m talking about it.  With one caveat, anyway:  I don’t think there’s any downside to the iPhone.  Nothing can be perfect, but in a tradeoff between the marginal speed boost Nicholas would like and the battery life Apple delivers, there’s just no contest.  The iPhone delivers a truly revolutionary product; and around here, that’s what we’re all about.