Baghdad blues: Time to restate the mission
UNITED NATIONS — Bombings, Bad news and Blues-singing politicians seem to dominate the headlines out of Baghdad. Indeed just a year after regaining its sovereignty and six months after the free elections to choose a constituent assembly, Iraq seems caught in a sanguinary spin cycle. Against this foreboding storm, an international conference on Iraq, co-hosted by the U.S. and European Union, mobilized needed political support.
Secretary of State Condi Rice called on European and Arab countries to deliver to Iraq promised financial aid, to offer debt relief and to implement work projects. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan stressed that international support pledged in rebuilding Iraq marks a “turning point” for the Middle East state. Annan told delegates “The conference marks a watershed for Iraq” and that the international community was determined see that Iraqi reconstruction was a success.
“The international community is committed to building a new Iraq, with stability, with democracy and with human rights,” added Luxemburg’s Foreign Minister. But while flagging political support from Europe characterized the past few years, there’s a slow but sure realizations that Iraq’s collapse into anarchy would have regional ramifications in the Middle East, which in turn would have a knock on effect in Europe.
Even German Foreign Minister Joshka Fischer, a key critic of the Iraq war conceded, "A democratic process is taking place that is vital for us, whether you were against the war or not."
Secretary Rice appealed for the international community to "support the Iraqi government along three important fronts — political reform, economic reconstruction and strengthening security with the rule of law".
But will determined rhetoric in pleasant Brussels change the situation on the ground in bloody Baghdad?
Despite many successes of the coalition in rebuilding Iraq and reclaiming large parts of the country, the Islamic insurgents can and do have the capacity to terrorize. That’s their plan-and they do it with chilling efficiency especially against defenseless Iraqi civilians. This is precisely the point of terror — to terrorize, to intimidate and to neutralize popular support for a targeted government by showing it cannot provide security.
The terrorists aim to sabotage a working civil society and cripple economic potential (electric, water, oil pipelines) more than confront security forces. Their aim is to demoralize Iraq internally and to give the impression of hopelessness externally. A socio/ political collapse in Iraq would set the stage for what the UN likes to call a “failed state.”
The terrorists, especially the Zarqawi Al Qaida network are in the proper sense Islamic fundamentalist fascists who don’t want a formal political solution but a perceived rout of American and British forces, a pullout of allied coalition troops, thus allowing the chaotic conditions for domestic score settling and bloodletting. Plainly stated this is not a contest between formal political parties or factions, but thwarting a cult of violence.
Clearly the insurgents have not been vanquished, nor have deep rifts among ethnic Shiia and Sunni ethnics been healed. A working constitution is yet to be written. And a robust Iraqi army has yet to take to the field of battle in numbers. But this is not Vietnam as many pundits gleefully predict. And an outcome is not predestined.
Calls for premature American troop pullouts or arbitrary timetables have wisely been rejected by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who states that victory is achievable with political perseverance. But riding that political wave is another matter. Much of the media seems transfixed only on car bombs, many politicians have created a gloom and doom inevitability over the outcome, and American opinion concerning Iraq appears increasingly divided. We owe it to our troops in the field to do better.
President George W. Bush must restate the case for staying the course and work to clearly refocus the mission and road ahead.
John J. Metzler is a U.N. correspondent covering diplomatic and defense
issues. He writes weekly for World Tribune.com.  |
