Iraqi Self-Determination

The question as to whether the United States Army in Iraq is an invading force or a liberating force is as controversial today as it was in 2003. Although Saddam Hussein has been consigned to the pages of history and a new government has been established in Baghdad, American troops still patrol Iraqi streets and deserts, killing and dying on a daily basis. Personally, I do still think of the United States as a liberating force -- at least, I want it to be a liberating force. However, I cannot deny that the United States has acted in some ways like an invading power. It is the role of the conqueror to tell the enslaved province what military and political goals must be achieved there, yet the United States has adopted such a role by setting benchmarks for a foreign government to achieve. When the United States government adopts the position of telling the Iraqi government what to do, American policy is actually hindering Iraq's journey to self-determination. To an extent, I think that the United States should sit back and let the Iraqi people and Iraqi government choose their own future. The American military's true role should be to oppose those forces within Iraq that are themselves fighting against Iraqi self-determination: terrorists, Iranian sympathizers, Baathists, and more! It should fulfill this role in partnership with the Iraqi government and on an as-needed basis rather than by increasing its numbers and dominance in a way that only makes the Iraqi government seem like nothing more than a puppet. It has taken me a while to come to this conclusion; long time readers of this blog may remember my support for the Biden-Gelb plan. In some ways, it remains an eminently sensible plan, but its critical flaw is that it seeks to impose an American vision for Iraq on Iraq -- although the United States may really know best under these circumstances, this is not an example of self-determination by any stretch of the imagination and it is certainly not conducive to the creation of a democracy.

Of course, the reasons which compel the United States to remain in Iraq are numerous and complex and are certainly not limited to delivering self-determination and democracy to the Iraqi people. Indeed, it is self-interest which primarily motivated the invasion and continues to primarily motivate the surge. There is a danger, thus, in giving Iraqis the freedom to determine their fate because they could undermine much of what the United States has done in Iraq. Mike Gravel has already said that he thinks American troops are dying in vain in Iraq as in Vietnam; it would be quite hard to argue with this statement if Iraqi self-determination brings another anti-American strongman or terrorists or a militant theocratic government into power. However, there is also a strong chance that Iraqis will continue to choose freedom if they are given the chance. I think we should try to avoid letting our fears about what might happen in Iraq cloud our view of the Iraqi people who are as deserving of free choice and liberty as any other people on the face of the Earth. Although the surge might be as effective in the long run as Bush and McCain think, the same goals could also be achieved by the Iraqi people themselves and require far fewer American lives in the process.

An immediate US withdrawal from Iraq would be another way to attempt to give Iraqis self-determination, and this policy has the wonderful advantage of bringing an end to American military deaths in Iraq. The problem with withdrawal is that no one really knows what will happen afterwards. If Iran invades or Iraq becomes a terrorist state, does the United States intervene once again? If not, will the political situation thus created be far worse than the political situation that existed when Saddam Hussein was in power? Of course, there is also the possibility that Iraq will become a vibrant democracy in the heart of the Middle East of its own volition, and I expect a battle-tested Iraqi democracy led by hardened freedom fighters would be far stronger than any that could be created by American power. Without the United States' direct influence to support the cause of Iraqi self-determination, however, I fear that anti-democratic forces in Iraq will strongly have the upper hand.