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An Occupying Force Or A Necessity Of Stabilization
Washington Dispatch ^ | May 27, 2003 | Frank Salvato

Posted on 05/27/2003 9:29:59 AM PDT by The Rant

With Iraqi frustration growing over the timetable being used to form a cohesive and effective Iraqi sovereignty a question must be asked. Are the coalition forces led by L. Paul Bremer occupying forces meant to remain in Baghdad to coerce any Iraqi government into an a pro-American way of thinking or are they stabilization forces caught in the middle of a people so divided in their own cause that their extraction would be leaving Iraq in a more lawless state than it was before?

The front-runners who have established themselves in the Iraqi power struggle have their good points and their notable bad points.

Ahmad Chalabi, an Iraqi exile and leader of the Iraqi National Congress had the initial support of the Bush Administration. He had the backing of an enormous number of exiled Iraqi nationals as the moment came that Saddam Hussein’s regime would be toppled. But as he got involved in the initial restructuring process reports surfaced that he had some skeletons in his closet with regard to monetary dealings within the Middle East. The last thing the Iraqi people need is to have a new leader who is branded untrustworthy by the regions’ established leaders. The credibility of the entire effort would be called into question and linked to the trustworthiness of Mr. Chalabi. This could very well be a gamble that could leave the effort in ruin and bring extremism back into the political picture.

The Kurdish leaders throughout the country and especially in the north have an agenda that would solidify their cohesiveness and elevate the stature of their people above that of all others in the new nation. Their unstable relationship with the Turks to the north could cause great anxiety within the region and lend to destabilization of the democracy that the Turks have in place.

Iranian extremists heavily back the Islamic clerics. Shiites demanding a religious run government only paint a picture of an extremist agenda that would in effect move the modernization process backwards instead of forward. If any region in the world requires modernization it is the Middle East. In a land where women are treated as second-class citizens and stoning is still an acceptable method of punishment there can be no argument that modernization is needed.

When one looks at the cast of characters it is easy to see why the coalition forces are scratching their heads and saying, “Perhaps we should stay awhile.”

The responsibility and the urgency to present respectable and effective leadership for the new Iraq is not the responsibility of the United States, Britain or the United Nations. It is the responsibility of the Iraqi people. The United Nations gave the coalition forces the authority to stay in Iraq and control the process until such time as the Iraqis pulled their heads out of their behinds, stop protesting every time some second rate cleric chants anti-American slogans and put forth a feasible process for constructing a government that won’t fall under the rule of the religious zealots in the region in less than a year.

As the Islamic clerics weigh the effectiveness of organizing protests to employ public sentiment to pressure the coalition leadership into haphazardly relinquishing power perhaps they would be better off if they used their organizational talents to construct a cohesive, inclusive government and/or find a leader who isn’t so religiously fanatical in his religious leadership. That would go a long way to asserting the idea that another Ayatollah wouldn’t rule with the oppressive brutality as we have seen demonstrated in Iran over the decades.

Perhaps if Ahmad Chalabi would use his lobbying efforts to form a conference of regional leaders that truly resembled the commoners of Iraq it would get a lot more mileage than setting up shop in one of the more elitist locations in Baghdad waiting for his coronation.

The Coalition forces are there to stabilize the region so that an effective government can emerge, not to install a puppet regime, as some liberal leaning publications in this country would have you believe. But until the Iraqis take the initiative to create and employ the necessary actions that will bring about a government that is fair to all the people of Iraq the coalition forces will remain. The goat’s head is in the Iraqis court…it’s their move.

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Frank Salvato is a political media consultant, a freelance writer from the Midwest and the Managing Editor for www.TheRant.us. He is a contributing writer to The Washington Dispatch. He pieces are featured at OpinionEditorials.com (Guest Writer), Etherzone.com (Regular Contributor) and Townhall.com.


TOPICS: Editorial; Foreign Affairs; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; War on Terror; Your Opinion/Questions
KEYWORDS: ahmadchalabi; iraq; islamicclerics; kurds; lpaulbremer; occupation; rebuildingiraq; stabilization
It's all about the content...we can focus on the content, can't we?
1 posted on 05/27/2003 9:30:00 AM PDT by The Rant
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To: The Rant
If you're one of the nattering nabobs of naysaying and nitpicking, it's an "occupation." That terminology suits those who wish the worst for American policy.
2 posted on 05/27/2003 9:51:27 AM PDT by My2Cents ("Well...there you go again.")
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To: The Rant
Iraq is a conquered nation. We are there to eliminate a threat to America, not to be their pals. Perhaps we should remind them of that, or ourselves for that matter.

We did not liberate Iraq, we conquered it for the threat it presented to America.
3 posted on 05/27/2003 11:01:38 AM PDT by Search4Truth (When a man lies, he murders part of the world.)
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To: The Rant
Added this for easy access to articles tagged by:Keyword: rebuildingiraq

4 posted on 05/27/2003 1:36:22 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach (Iran will feel the heat from our Iraq victory!)
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