The American-supported Iraqi government received a huge boost as the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), which consists of 57 primarily Islamic member-states, formally voted to recognize the new interim government, the AP reports:

The new Iraqi interim government received a key boost Tuesday when the country's neighbors endorsed the U.S.-backed leadership, a move that could help stem an increasingly violent insurgency. Hours later, the political committee of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the world's largest Islamic organization, unanimously approved a resolution backing Iraq's interim government and calling for help in rebuilding the war-shattered nation, a delegate who attended the discussions said.

The resolution is expected to be formally declared at the closing of the three-day meeting on Wednesday, the delegate added, speaking on customary condition of anonymity.

Formal recognition from the OIC will allow moderates within neighboring Islamic states to work directly and openly with the Iraqi government and put pressure on the extremist elements of Iraq's neighbors, such as Iran and Syria, to stop interfering with its internal politics. It certainly won't stop overnight, of course, but the insurgents will have much less political cover than before, when the OIC supported the extremists' contention that the IGC was little more than an American puppet.

So far, it appears that the Bush administration's foreign policy has paid dividends yet again. Far from being a bull in a china shop, the US has removed a stubborn and genocidal dictator from power without -- as some had predicted -- setting off a region-wide war. Now we have established a basis for free elections and a federal representative government, stabilized most of the country, and have even garnered unanimous recognition for the new government from the nations most bitterly opposed to our intervention -- foureen months after the fall of Saddam. Twenty-four million people now have the ability to choose their own leadership rather than have to fear being tortured or maimed, or worse, for offending Saddam or his sadistic sons.

If we listened to France, Germany, and John Kerry (after he voted for the war, of course), we'd still be talking about taking some kind of action against Saddam, and Iraqis would still be dying by the thousands each month. If we'd listened to the folks at MoveOn.org and editorialists from the New York Times, et al, the Taliban would still hold power in Kabul. Pakistan would still be cooperating with al-Qaeda. In other words, we would be losing this war.

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