About ‘Quitting the War in Iraq’

11/16/2005

Paul Munnis

Would an American pullout from Iraq be a disaster as Bush claims or could it be an opportunity in disguise? We assert that it all depends upon how it’s managed.

For America to just turn on its heel and leave Iraq would be a wicked disaster that we agree with the GOP about that. However a different scenario is entirely possible. It starts with realizing that we have to leave sometime; sooner or later. The question is not when, or why, or how, but rather: “what do we want to accomplish before we leave Iraq?” In other words what must be in place before we leave? The short answer is that Iraqi’s need to develop a vision for their future and it must be developed bottoms up and coming from the people so that it’s a shared vision between them and their government. It’s the U.S. role to then help them to form and achieve their vision.

I think that one must look down the road and start by asking what happens in Iraq when the oil runs out; for indeed that is the destiny of Iraq. Addressing this question is a good exercise and a good starting point for Iraqi nation building. The people of Iraq need to feed, clothe, and house themselves, plus to practice commerce and trade in order to become self-sufficient. They need to be able to do this long after the oil supply is gone.

Iraq is in a region that is hostile to agriculture, not especially industrial in nature, and it has few developed natural resources except for oil. The history of Iraq is that of a once proud Persia, the cross-roads of trade and commerce in the mid-east. Could it become so again?

Likely it could if a few preconditions were met. Iraq would need good commercial air facilities for use by commercial and cargo jets. It would also need access to a first class harbor and seaport for shipping, plus trade friendly policies that would allow it to develop banking, insurance, and international commerce as key sectors of the Iraq economy. Distribution and shipping businesses would also need to develop. It could also specialize in desert farming to produce food to not only feed its people but also for export to other Islamic nations across the mid-east.

America is pouring billions of dollars into Iraq but none of it is doing much good. A lot goes to welfare for feeding and clothing Iraqi’s. More money goes to supporting the war effort. A lot is going to take care of friends of the GOP like Halliburton and their various divisions while performing jobs that Iraqi businesses need to be developed to accomplish. Little is going towards Iraqi national development at all. In fact, three years after the war the U.S. and its contractor forces can’t even keep constant electric and clean water flowing to Iraqi homes.

Thus building a nation with a good self-sufficient future is what our mutual shared goal should and must become if we seek a peace in Iraq.

We need to work together to set those goals and we need to retire the weapons of war to achieve them too or at least turn the weapons to use for protection and not for offensive use against the Iraqi people. A huge window of opportunity is opening up for this as soon as the December elections are over with in Iraq.

The Israelis have proven that by using trickle irrigation the desert can be farmed. When water is delivered, one drop at a time, to a plant then that plant flourishes. The dry heat of the desert is great for producing excellent crops. With so many millions of people, there is not a shortage of the raw material for fertilizer since processed animal and human waste and food scraps converted to compost have long been a staple of world farming. So it can be done and what will be needed are water wells and tractors. These are items that American companies could be building, shipping, and creating U.S. jobs as a result of.

Getting shipping and harbor facilities to use by Iraq is far more difficult and the use of war to seize a seaport is simply the wrong answer. Some sort of financial arrangement with a nearby nation offering good seaport access is badly needed. The City of Basra is just too small of a seaport. There are three big possibilities: Syria, Turkey, and Iran, all have wonderful access to the sea. Iraq is constrained. What is then required is mainly diplomacy and a mutual support pact with a neighbor in return for access to shipping. Looking at Syria they are a nation in need of crafting a future for themselves too and thus Syria would be my first choice for holding diplomatic talks.

As for banking and insurance, a system that meets the needs of Islamic businesses and Arab states is what is especially needed since the Quran lays down rules for financial dealings. The U.S. could do much to help by using the World Bank, the IMF, and by providing technical assistance while working in concert with the clerics and mullahs of Islam to establish the framework and legal parameters for operation. The UN could also play a role in fostering international trade. The U.S. could help itself and Iraq and negotiate a long-term oil supply contract in return for development assistance. We would end a contention system between the people and governments and replace it with a building system that is a partnership for all those that choose to participate.

That is what Condoleeza Rice should be doing now instead of screwing around with Palestine and Israel in a situation that she can do little to enhance and could easily mess up. She seeks a record of accomplishment but is not working to develop one for herself. She should be working with the key political forces in all of the parties in Iraq by doing requirements gathering in a bottom-up manner and developing a compact for announcement by the newly elected government come the December post election speeches. Such a compact would avoid Civil War and start a new phase.

We close now after planting this idea with you and with the assertion that this it is the proper way to proceed in Iraq.

A military solution to the Iraqi War is an absolute oxymoron. Military units that are used to destroy are negative forces and the angst they produce feeds war, hate, and rebellion and solves little except for territorial occupancy. However, military units that are used to protect a nation while the people of that nation are working to achieve their destiny are an absolute necessity to an emerging nation. The institutions and businesses that result must be an Iraqi citizen entrepreneurial endeavor and with support from the U.S. and Iraqi governments.

When the dynamics change to a partnership then we go from being an occupying nation to a nation with a shared mutual stake in the future of Iraq and its people. Instead of throwing the U.S. out, we are instead invited into the tent. The way that we then conduct ourselves is quite different from breaking into homes, rounding up people who want us gone from their country, and imprisoning, torturing, and abusing those who are detained. If you want America to withdraw from Iraq and bring our troops home and end this continuous bloodshed then a true nation building effort is what is needed. That will give meaning to Service and Sacrifice from the good Americans soldiers who have died and were injured and did so in order to assure a future for the Iraqi people. The whole tone changes as we strive to build and thus we move from a lose-lose GOP scenario to a win-win scenario. Until we make that shift then we are stuck in Iraq and for all of the wrong reasons.

This is a task that the Bush Administration and the Pentagon are just not equipped for and something that the Bushies have not approached with either commitment or determination. This is the opposite of empire, conquest, occupation, and war. Democrats could and would do this sort of nation building and we would do it with great success too. 

There are real benefits in electing Democrats come the 2006 election and the first one deals with ending the Iraqi War in an honorable manner. We have little baggage with respect to Iraq and can change the dynamics. Democrats will also show how to create jobs while doing so and for both Iraqi’s and Americans. If you want to bring the troops home then change over to a win-win foreign policy plan for success.