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Just a month after the citizens of the United States saw the neoconservatives and their dreams of empire leave power, a new plan was announced. Most U.S. troops will be withdrawn by within 18 months. Thirty to fifty thousand will remain to help with security and the never ending process of training Iraqi security forces.
Aren't we missing a step?
Who asked the Iraqi people about the withdrawal schedule? As the self-proclaimed proponents for democracy and human rights, shouldn't the United States inquire as to the will of the people before initiating any policy changes? Failing to do so means we've skipped a critical step. How democratic is that? It's their country after all.
Did someone forget to raise those questions when the new plans were developed?
Relying on the ever shifting positions of a very unpopular Iraqi government is useless in assessing the will of the Iraqi people. The only way to determine their will is through a national election. Should U.S. troops stay or go? If they should go, what is the preferred timeline?
Those who speak the language of empire might say that this modest proposal, democracy for Iraq, allows Iraqi citizens to determine U.S. foreign policy.
The answer to that is simple. Right now U.S. foreign policy trumps Iraqi domestic policy and democracy. Denying the vote to the Iraqis on this most vital matter denies their rights to self determination and belies the role of the United States as a proponent of democracy.
A 2003 Senate Committee on Foreign Relations report on Iraq stated that:
"Iraqis remain a proud people. Gratitude over the removal of Saddam mixes with a strong strain of nationalism. Military occupation elicits complex reactions, and Iraqis, citing their long history of civilization, believe that they are capable of running their own affairs." Committee on Foreign Relations, July 2003
That statement was made in 2003. It's 2009.
Do we believe in the right of self determination for the long suffering people of Iraq? If so, at long last, let's prove it by letting them chose their own fate.
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