Tuesday, October 05, 2010

"We have not labored in vain"

"The Iraqis have a fetish about their sovereignty, but they also understand their dependence. They will need American help, cover for their air space, protection for their oil commerce in the sea lanes of the Persian Gulf. This Iraqi government will remain, for the foreseeable future, a Shiite-led government anxious about the intentions of the Sunni Arab states; about the Turks now pushing deeper into Iraq's affairs, armed with Neo-Ottomanist ideas about Turkey as a patron of the Sunnis of Iraq. And there will always play upon Iraqis—Shiites in particular—a healthy fear of Iran and a desire to keep the Persian power at bay. There will be plenty of room for America in Iraq even after our soldiers have packed up their gear and left.

The question posed in the phase to come will be about the willingness of Pax Americana to craft a workable order in the Persian Gulf, and to make room for this new Iraq. It is a peculiarity of the American presence in the Arab- Islamic world, as contrasted to our work in East Asia, that we have always harbored deep reservations about democracy's viability there and have cast our lot with the autocracies. For a fleeting moment, George W. Bush broke with that history. But that older history, the resigned acceptance of autocracies, is the order of the day in Washington again.

It isn't perfect, this Iraqi polity midwifed by American power. But were we to acknowledge and accept that Iraqis and Americans have prevailed in that difficult land, in the face of such forbidding odds, we and the Iraqis shall be better for it. We have not labored in vain." --Fouad Ajami

4 comments :

Bruno said...

Sounds like some sort of whore begging for a big American buttplug.

Funny, isn't it, how Iraq went from "threatening its neighbours" to
"helpless waif" depending on what the Americans needed! What nonsense.

Don Cox said...

Under Saddam, Iraq was not only threatening its neighbours, it was attacking them.

Since the Iraqi forces were destroyed by the US, the country has been unable to defend itself unaided. If the US completely moves out soon, an invasion of Iraq by Iran would be a walkover.

Bruno said...

LMAO @ Cox who still hasn't worked out what has happened in Iraq. One day the penny will drop.

"Huh?? Maliki, Sadr, Badr and friends are Iranian allies?? Say what??? No Way!"

Bruno said...

Aton is making progress, I see.