The Dream is not Dead

Fouad Ajami laments in the NYT today that "Iraq May Survive, but the Dream Is Dead"

Let's face it: Iraq is not going to be America's showcase in the Arab-Muslim world. The president's insistence that he had sent American troops to Iraq to make its people free, "not to make them American" is now — painfully — beside the point. The unspoken message of the speech was that no great American project is being hatched in Iraq. If some of the war's planners had thought that Iraq would be an ideal base for American primacy in the Persian Gulf, a beacon from which to spread democracy and reason throughout the Arab world, that notion has clearly been set aside.

I refuse to believe this is true. Not only because of the consequences Bush acknowledged during his important speech last November during the 20th Anniversary of the National Endowment for Democracy:

The failure of Iraqi democracy would embolden terrorists around the world, increase dangers to the American people, and extinguish the hopes of millions in the region.

But also because then there would be no other justification left for ordering the invasion in the first place. The dream may be comatose, but by God, we'd better put the damn thing on life support and find some way to revive it. We cannot afford to let this buck be passed. It stops here, and now, with this generation. Wrestle control away from those who think they need to cut and run, push them aside and let them wallow in their incompetence...Failure is NOT an option here.

Ajami concludes:

Imperial expeditions in distant, difficult lands are never easy. And an Arab-Islamic world loaded with deadly means of destruction was destined to test our souls and our patience. This is not "Bush's War." It is — by accident or design, it doesn't matter now — our biggest undertaking in the foreign world since Vietnam. We as a nation pay dearly every day. We fight under the gaze of multitudes in the Arab world who wish us ill, who believe that we are getting our comeuppance.

The gains already accomplished in Iraq, and the gains yet to be secured, are increasingly abstract and hard to pin down. The costs are visible to us, and heartbreaking. The subdued, somber tone with which the war is now described is the beginning of wisdom. In its modern history, Iraq has not been kind or gentle to its people. Perhaps it was folly to think that it was under any obligation to be kinder to strangers.

The beginning of wisdom is the realization that if you break it, you bought it. Who gives a rat's ass if the Iraqis feel obliged to be kind to us or not. This is not a popularity contest. We invaded their country. We tore down their government, bombed their ministry buildings, disbanded their army, allowed their archives to be looted, and allowed terrorists to pour across their borders...WE OWE THEM!!!! Democracy is the ONLY currency with which we can repay our debt.

Comments

[Dave Schuler]

I completely agree with every sentiment. But how?

[Fabius]

I completely agree with every sentiment. But how?

Attack their weddings, pile them up naked, and ship lots and lots of sailboat fuel to Bagdad. All while piping in the sweet sounds of Russ Limbaugh to our troops.

BTW - another way the Viet Nam war is different than Gulf II is that the sound track to VN was better what with Robin Williams spinning the 45's and Robert Duval blasting out The Ride of the Valkyries. My personal favorite was The End with Marlon Brandon adding a couple words for effect.

[asdf]

This is a bizarre post. If a fundamental impediment to the building of Iraqi democracy is U.S. occupation, then it should end.

[Edward]

If a fundamental impediment to the building of Iraqi democracy is U.S. occupation, then it should end.

This seems rational on the surface, but it leaves the democracy building to those with no experience at it, and leaves Iraq exposed to those who would prevent it from becoming democratic (both from within and outside the country).

There's a difference between a democratically elected government saying "We've got it under control now, you can leave" and the US simply pulling out and letting Iraq get along as best it can.