Could a little more democracy save Iraq?

Great Debates
21

Oh, all right. Let’s look at it:

Functioning government, you say? Where? There’s some Shiite operation able to hunker down inside the Green Zone, under heavy guard, yes. But it hardly controls even the Shiite sections of Baghdad, does it?

People trying to make a civil society happen, you say? I assume by that you mean a single, ethnically plural Iraq. Sure, probably lots. But they’re outnumbered, increasingly, by those whose idea of a civil society involves their own religious group in charge. And they’ve never been in the majority in Iraq anyway.

Many peaceful areas, you say? Sure, the western desert where there are no people and no oil, maybe. Kurdistan is relatively peaceful, if you’re not an Arab, that is. Where did you mean?

Commerce is continuing, you say? On what level? There are plenty of US $100 bills floating around, if that’s what you mean. Otherwise, most reports are of a subsistence-level barter economy reflecting the lack of a reliable central authority.
Reverse all of Bush’s screwups, you say? Who’s going to do that - Bush, by doing more of the same, as you so strenuously advocate? There will be too many names on the new Wall as it is, family members, friends, people we know. I do wish you weren’t so cavalier about lives other than your own; it would give your constant exhortations about what what the Americans should do with their family members’ lives at least an iota of moral credibility.

Sometimes I get a little nostalgic for the days when you were accusing those of us who opposed this from the beginning of being dupes of the neo-Trotskyites …

22

Wow, that’s just amazing. You wanted facts, not spin. The facts I laid out is that A) there is a functioning government. B) There are still plenty of people who want peace. C) there are some areas that are peaceful.

Those are, in fact, facts. The government exists. It controls a military of varying levels of effectiveness. There are police who attempt to keep some semblence of order, of varying levels of effectiveness. This is beyond dispute. It’s a FACT.

There are plenty of people who want a civil society. The vast majority, in fact. The country is full of people who still send their kids to school, who go to work, who buy products, and in general just want to live their lives. They are at the mercy of the extremists, the militias, and foreign influences. But it is a FACT that there are plenty of such people in the country.

Commerce is continuing. That is a FACT.

You want to see a failed state? Go have a look at Rwanda. Or any number of countries in Africa where there is no real state at all - just varying degrees of local control and terror by the local warlord. Iraq is not yet that bad. It may in fact wind up that way, but it’s not there yet.

I never said everything was peaches and cream. Clearly, the country is in crisis. Baghdad’s population is under siege. There is death and destruction everywhere you look. Clearly, the central government is weak. Clearly, commerce is under major threat from the insurgency. Clearly, if things get worse the people who just want peace will either flee, be killed, or join in the sectarian divisions. That is already happening. But some forces for peace and stability still do exist in Iraq, and as long as there are people trying, there is some hope.

Your response was pure spin. Give me the facts you demanded of me. Show me proof that the war is already lost, that there is no hope for Iraq, zero chance of anything getting better. Can you do that without spin?

Since the ‘surge’ began, attacks in Baghdad are down 80%. Moqtdada al-Sadr has fled the country for Iran. So far, the Malaki government has accepted a crackdown on Shiite militias as well as Sunni militias.

Of course, al-Sadr may just be following a smart strategy of getting out of town while the Americans squabble amongst themselves and eventually lose patience and go home. Then he can come back and stir up trouble again. So the fact that he left proves nothing. But at least it’s a sign that conditions on the ground have changed, at least temporarily.
Here’s an Iraqi Blogger who is touring Baghdad daily and reporting what he sees. He says there is progress.