The Troop Drawdown Could Be Costly for Iraq - WSJ.com: "Power and prestige matter. Withdrawal from Iraq's cities is good politics in Washington, but when premature and done under fire it may very well condemn Iraqis to repeat their past."
And from the Washington Post - "Obama said Iraq's future was now "in the hands of its own people," and its Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurdish leaders had to make some hard choices to resolve disputes that have been obstacles to real political reconciliation."
So the question is will the Iraqis be condemned to repeat their past? The violent politics of the past could return to the region once the United States is gone, but unlike in the past the United States now has a duty to do something about it. The U.S. cannot leave Iraq without continuing to provide humanitarian assistance as was the case in Afghanistan after the defeat of the Soviets. Political chaos and violent upheavel can be dealt with by the police and security of local forces, but no one will want to go along the democratic path if the United States is seen as abandoning the people of Iraq.
The United States must continue to provide the necessary resources that will alow the country to have a good education system, modern medicine, access to the media and a strong infrastructure. If the United States does not provide aide and guidance to strengthen the fragile democratic institutions within Iraq then we may very well see the Iraqi people be condemned to repeat their past, just as the United States will be condemned to repeat the past mistakes that were made in Afghanistan and so many other countries the U.S. has used military force in.
The military did it's job which was to fight the Baathists and the insurgents and now the forces must leave to allow local security to take over and for the people to police themselves. Rebuilding Iraq into a democratic nation is not the job of the military, as the military is the United States' least democratic institution. Now it is time for real democracy to take shape in the country which will occur as long as the Iraqi people can be shown that democracy does not abandon the people it tries to convert.
And if the country does return to a violent authoritarian regime where political violence is the only way to power, then the United States must not return with their guns blazing. Instead, the United States must rally support from the international community to take action, rather than doing it alone.
The unilateral approach the U.S. took on Iraq before the invasion only destroyed the legitimacy of the United States' claim to democracy while also tearing apart the foundations of the United Nations which the U.S. worked so hard to build.
And from the Washington Post - "Obama said Iraq's future was now "in the hands of its own people," and its Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurdish leaders had to make some hard choices to resolve disputes that have been obstacles to real political reconciliation."
So the question is will the Iraqis be condemned to repeat their past? The violent politics of the past could return to the region once the United States is gone, but unlike in the past the United States now has a duty to do something about it. The U.S. cannot leave Iraq without continuing to provide humanitarian assistance as was the case in Afghanistan after the defeat of the Soviets. Political chaos and violent upheavel can be dealt with by the police and security of local forces, but no one will want to go along the democratic path if the United States is seen as abandoning the people of Iraq.
The United States must continue to provide the necessary resources that will alow the country to have a good education system, modern medicine, access to the media and a strong infrastructure. If the United States does not provide aide and guidance to strengthen the fragile democratic institutions within Iraq then we may very well see the Iraqi people be condemned to repeat their past, just as the United States will be condemned to repeat the past mistakes that were made in Afghanistan and so many other countries the U.S. has used military force in.
The military did it's job which was to fight the Baathists and the insurgents and now the forces must leave to allow local security to take over and for the people to police themselves. Rebuilding Iraq into a democratic nation is not the job of the military, as the military is the United States' least democratic institution. Now it is time for real democracy to take shape in the country which will occur as long as the Iraqi people can be shown that democracy does not abandon the people it tries to convert.
And if the country does return to a violent authoritarian regime where political violence is the only way to power, then the United States must not return with their guns blazing. Instead, the United States must rally support from the international community to take action, rather than doing it alone.
The unilateral approach the U.S. took on Iraq before the invasion only destroyed the legitimacy of the United States' claim to democracy while also tearing apart the foundations of the United Nations which the U.S. worked so hard to build.
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