DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ I

I hope Kanan Makiya is wrong when he says that the forces in the administration least friendly to Iraqi democracy are now calling the shots on the question of a post-Saddam settlement. It seems to me that, after some kind of authoritarian-military rule to avoid chaos in the wake of victory, the U.S. really does have an obligation to find a way to bring real democratic institutions to Iraq. Yes, this is a war largely designed to protect the West and others from Saddam’s menace. But no, that doesn’t mean repeating the mistakes of the past in propping up failed and illegitimate Arab autocracies in the wake of victory. Makiya has a vested interest, of course. But he’s right nonetheless. Liberation without democracy would render this war unjust and unAmerican.

DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ II: Here’s the email from an Iraqi exile the prime minister quoted in his extraordinary speech on Saturday. Money quote:

I remember when I was around 8 I went along with my father to a demonstration against the French embassy when the French were selling Saddam weapons. I know of the numerous occasions my father and many, many others haves attended various meetings, protests and exhibitions that call for the end of Saddam’s reign. I have attended the permanent rally against Saddam that has been held every Saturday in Trafalgar Square for the past 5 years. The Iraqi people have been protesting for YEARS against the war – the war that Saddam has waged against them. Where have you been? Why is it now that you deem it appropriate to voice your disillusions with America’s policy in Iraq, when it is actually right now that the Iraqi people are being given real hope, however slight and precarious, that they can live in an Iraq that is free of the horrors partly described in this email?

But in some ways, the most important part of the letter is the following:

If you want to make your disillusions heard then do speak out, put pressure on Blair, Bush & Co to keep to their promises of restoring democracy to Iraq. Make sure they do put back in financial aid what they have taken over the years, and make sure that they don’t betray the Iraqis again. March for democracy in Iraq. If you say that we can’t trust the Americans then make sure that you are a part of ensuring they do fulfil their promises to the Iraqis.

Absolutely. We must hold insist that Bush fulfill this promise (and I think he will). There must be no attempt to placate the Arab autocracies in the region with just another pliant pro-American strongman in Baghdad. Once order is restored and enforced, we need a real attempt at some sort of democracy in Iraq. Nothing else will suffice.