It's hard to believe that it only took five years.

The enemies of the United States--those who executed the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and those who either financially or ideologically supported those attacks--evidently only had to wait a half-decade before a significant portion of the U.S. population folded, and decided that a fight against terrorism wasn't worth winning.

With the call to cut and run from Iraq louder than ever before--from the American press, from the strident left, and from voters who chose to put Democrats devoted to defeat in control of the Senate and House of Representatives--it is unquestionably clear that those who believed that the U.S. would not have the stomach for a protracted fight against terrorism were correct in their conclusions.

Who would have thought, in the wake of September 11, that so many Americans would be lulled into believing that if we did not confront Islamic terrorism and the sponsors thereof, those who embraced extremism would never bother us again? Who would have thought that so many people would ignore the obvious logic of shattering the financial foundations of terrorism--a foundation of which Saddam Hussein was clearly a part? Who would have thought that hatred of George W. Bush would supersede contempt for the religious fanatics whose desire to destroy the United States remains unquenched?

You can't help thinking that the likes of Hussein, Osama bin Laden, Mahmoud Ahmaninejad and Hugo Chavez are having a huge laugh at America's expense right about now, as they witness the mainstream press, members of the Democrat Party, and war-weary American voters demand that Bush abandon Iraq. Our enemies always saw the United States as the greatest paper tiger in world history. Declaring defeat in Iraq validates their view.

The deafening decree--"Leave Iraq Now!"--indicates a world upside down. It's as if we've entered an alternative universe in which John Kerry actually won the 2004 Presidential election. From coast to coast, there is this bizarre desire to quit, to lose, to give up, to forfeit, to fail. Are we all Cindy Sheehans now?

It's amazing. Our enemies only had to wait five years before 9/11 faded from our consciousness. They knew it was only a matter of time before a significant portion of the U.S. population saw enough bloodshed. And so, President Bush's claims to the contrary notwithstanding, the premature abandonment of Iraq seems inevitable.

Five years ago, it seemed that we would be unified in the face of the terrorist threat. On September 12, 2001, it appeared that all Americans, regardless of race, creed, color, religion and age, had resolved to face down those who wished to destroy America and those who supported that amoral ambition. Looking at where we are now, five years ago might as well be five hundred years ago.