First, I would like to say is that I disagree with those who say there is any "blame America first" crowd in this country. Over the past seven years this group has evolved and has become much more complex than that. Now they blame Bush first before blaming America for all the injustices in the world.
Despite my lamentation last week about how American foreign policy, I'm not in either of these crowds. Yes, America has and does support tyrannies and continues to allow horrible incidences like Sudan, Rwanda and Cambodia to occur under our watch. In many ways, as a nation, we have sold our soul in order to gain materially in this world (winning the Cold War or protecting short term interests).
Still, the clock is not yet out on American hegemony. We still have a chance at redemption for the sins that have allowed us to gain this privileged status. The main theater for American redemption should be Iraq.
Putting aside the initial reasons for invading Iraq, today, in this autumn of 2007, America is provided with an opportunity in Iraq to do the right thing. The Iraqis are our brothers, just as all humans are across this world. Concentration on nationality, creed, blood and gender are the dividers we put up in society to deny this fact.
In Baghdad, we have the chance to help our brothers at a time when help is needed the most. The question is: Will we answer the call, or shall we pack our bags and go home?
In a confusing world, the clearest thing in the world seems that we can't leave Iraq. Not only would the regional geo-political implications be devastating, but the moral implications would be worse, rivaling the horrors that faced the Cambodians when we abandoned our brothers there.
America now has a responsibility to this land. With the sanctions regime of the 1990s and the 2003 invasion, we stirred the pot of an ugly system and must remain until we get the job done.
If were to leave now, we would be leaving the Iraqis with a fate, whether tyranny or chaos follows, worse than Saddam.
We, as tax payers, voters and participants in the American government would have brought this fate on them - no one else - and still we would have the gall to, like Pontius Pilate, wash our hands of the Iraqis.
Sure, we're willing to dedicate treasure to rebuilding Europe after World War II with the Marshall Plan, and yet we shudder at substantial contributions to helping the people of the Middle East stand on its feet, despite the political and strategic significance of the region.
America must make a concerted effort in strengthening, rationalizing and diversifying the economies of Middle East countries such as Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. In our place, groups like the Mahdi Army, Hezbollah and Hamas are helping the disenfranchised in this region.
Sure, we're game for committing troops to West Germany and the Balkins, but shudder at the thought of sustainable commitment to places like Cambodia, Somalia, Rwanda and Iraq. The hypocrisy here is disturbing.
America should never attempt to export liberal democracy to the regions we are trying to help. That is simply cultural tyranny.
What we need to do is to help our brothers to figure out the mechanism of democracy themselves.
That might mean an Islamic oriented government in Iraq, but we shouldn't be afraid of religion. When anything is taken to the extreme, even secularism, that's when people should worry. Moderate Islamists should be promoted in the Middle East, because they have support with the people, not faced with fear as many did when the moderate Islamist AK party consolidated power in Turkey.
Islam is a major part of the Middle eastern societies, and if a government is going to represent the people and truly reflect society, Islam probably will be a part of politics there.
The goal in Iraq should be to help Iraqis rebuild from decades of tyranny, both economically, politically and spiritually. When I say spiritually, I'm referring to the civic spirit to participate in governance peacefully.
We can leave when the security situation is healthy enough for a political space and there is government accountability to the people, along with an institutional (at least) recognition of certain inalienable rights of minority groups. The rest can come on its own once that's in place.
Now, every day an American soldier dies in Iraq. That is another tragedy for this nation. But when I hear the loss of another life, I remember how many have been lost for less noble reasons than what the project in Iraq could become.
Their sacrifice is great, and it's uneven to ours; for that our soldiers deserve our undying gratitude. If we can make this our goal in Iraq, though, maybe America is fighting for something beyond the short term goal of strengthening its coffers and strategic power for once.
That would be something worthy of our founding and our citizens. We should take this moment in history when our wealth and power is at its greatest and use it towards the betterment of humanity, allowing others, without as much as we do to stand on their own two feet.
