Another
way of looking
at Iraq
By
Jonathan
Power
TFF Associate
since 1991
Comments to JonatPower@aol.com
August 17, 2005
LONDON - We are all, left and
right, pro war and anti war, frozen in the headlights of
Iraq. Even many of those who campaigned vigorously
against the war are frightened to be bold and say the
troops should come out. Anarchy is the state of political
disarray we have long been acculturated to fear. "Things
fall apart; the centre cannot hold;/Mere anarchy is
loosed upon the world," wrote Yeats. To walk away is the
height of irresponsibility. But is it?
An insurgency working in its home
terrain enjoys advantages that are just as formidable as
any precision-guided weaponry that soldiers of the
coalition can deploy. The insurgents may not have ground
down the American and British troops but they have
certainly created enough mayhem to instil sufficient fear
in every Iraqi and expatriate workman so that the economy
remains almost where years of sanctions and two aerial
bombardments left it- in ruins. The guerrillas have the
advantage of being able to put the occupying forces in
situations where they are damned if they do and damned if
they don't. They have also succeeded in chasing the UN
out of Iraq, the one institution that might have been
able, over time, to become a viable alternative to the
invaders.
But that is only the half of it. A
few guerrillas in Iraq can only do incremental damage.
Everything is already so destroyed and dilapidated that
the bombs and booby traps have diminishing returns, at
least as far as the physical environment and the economy
are concerned. But a few guerrillas deployed in New York,
Istanbul, Madrid and London can wreck instant havoc in a
sophisticated modern state. In each case less than 20
activists with a few well-chosen sites sent each city
reeling. Imagine if over the next three years this were
to grow to 100 such terrorists or, not inconceivably, a
1000.
Iraq is simply a breeding ground
for hard-bitten, hard-eyed, religious fanatics who, day
by day, are having their baser instincts reinforced by
combat. If the previous generation, trained directly by
the CIA and its Saudi and Pakistani counterparts to drive
out the Soviet invaders of Afghanistan, could organise or
inspire the wrecking of so much havoc in Western cities
we should try for a moment to soberly imagine what this
new graduating class- or those they inspire by their
example- might be able to do in future years. Political
leaders who attempt to play down the connections between
the war in Iraq and the bombing of Western cities are
trying to pull the wool over the electorate's eyes in a
way quite reminiscent of their previous duplicitous
campaign to persuade us that Iraq was armed and ready to
fire with weapons of mass destruction.
The first priority of policy in
Washington and London should be to preserve the peace at
home, not to bring "peace" to Iraq.
Iraq should be left to find its own
way. This is what Charles de Gaulle decided for France
instead of continuing the long and bitter war in Algeria.
It is what Richard Nixon decided after America's
gruelling attempt to turn back the supposed tide of Asian
communism in Vietnam. Fingers were pointed, calling these
French and American withdrawals "defeats". They weren't
defeats. They were wisdom restored.
Vietnam has prospered peacefully
since then and the contagion of revolutionary,
expansionist, Marxism gave way to an appreciation of the
value of markets and capital once economic development
and not war became the priority. In Algeria the outcome
was messier. Factions have fought over the inheritance.
The economy has been led to ruin. Islamists took to the
field and became the main opposition to the government.
Atrocity followed atrocity. The ingrown leadership learnt
the hard way. Belatedly, under the astute leadership of
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the country seems to have
found a way out. Democracy and good governance are
getting more than a toehold and the future looks
reasonably promising. But we should note one thing:
because no foreign troops were involved the resentments
and hatreds were turned inwards. There was no spill over
to speak of in France.
Iraq at best could go the
Vietnamese way. At worst the Algerian way. Either way the
West is better out of it.
Anarchy in Iraq is a danger first
and foremost to Iraqis, not to the West. As long as the
Americans and British are sitting targets, Iraqi factions
can indulge themselves, exhibiting the bravado of extreme
nationalism or Islamism, blaming the invaders for all
their ills. On their own they would have to learn to find
their own compromises, Sunni, Shiite and Kurd,
altogether. At least the invaders have laid the
foundations for the basic democratic institutions of a
new Iraq. Let the Iraqis now get on with it,
alone.
Copyright © 2005 By
JONATHAN POWER
I can be reached by
phone +44 7785 351172 and e-mail: JonatPower@aol.com
Get
free articles &
updates
Follow this
link to read about - and order - Jonathan Power's book
written for the
40th Anniversary of
Amnesty International
"Like
Water on Stone - The Story of Amnesty
International"
Här kan
du läsa om - och köpa - Jonathan Powers bok
på svenska
"Som
Droppen Urholkar
Stenen"
Tell a friend about this article
Send to:
From:
Message and your name
 
|