'This Was a Good Thing to Do': Iraqis' greatest fear is that America will cut and run.

WSJ via OpinionJournal ^ | 7/28/03 | Paul Gigot

[jennyp]

NAJAF, Iraq--Toppling a statue is easier than killing a dictator. Not the man himself, but the idea of his despotism, the legacy of his torture and the fear of his return. This kind of reconstruction takes time.

Just ask the 20-some members of the new city council in this holy city of Shiite Islam. Their chairs are arrayed in a circle to hear from Paul Wolfowitz, the deputy secretary of defense, who invites questions. The first man to speak wants to know two things: There's a U.S. election next year, and if President Bush loses will the Americans go home? And second, are you secretly holding Saddam Hussein in custody as a way to intimidate us with the fear that he might return? Mr. Wolfowitz replies no to both points, with more conviction on the second than the first. But the question reveals the complicated anxiety of the post-Saddam Iraqi mind.

[goldstategop]

We Americans aren't quitters. We told the Germans "NUTS" when they asked for our surrender. Until the mission is finished we're staying. And for good measure, Bill Clinton is not in office to pull a Mogadishu on the Iraqis simply since 50 or so of our soldiers have been killed by hostile elements inside Iraq since the cessation of armed hostilities. Count on it.

[kayak]

Most reporting from Iraq suggests that the U.S. "occupation" isn't welcome here. But following Mr. Wolfowitz around the country I found precisely the opposite to be true. The majority aren't worried that we'll stay too long; they're petrified we'll leave too soon.

Outstanding article! Thanks for posting it, jennyp.

[arasina]

I like Paul Gigot. He tells things straight. The entire article was uplifting, but I especially like this part:

To a soldier, they say the Iraqis want us here. They also explain their mission in a way that the American pundit class could stand to hear.

"I tell my troops every day that what we're doing is every bit as important as World War II," says one colonel, a brigade commander, in the 101st. "The chance to create a stable Iraq could help our security for the next 40 or 50 years." A one-star general in the same unit explains that his father served three tours in Vietnam and ultimately turned against that war. But what the 101st is doing "is a classic anti-insurgency campaign" to prevent something similar here.

[lysie]

Thanks, kayak.

[Tom Bombadil]

Thanks Jennyp for the post......My morning has just improved.

[jaykay]

"There's a U.S. election next year, and if President Bush loses will the Americans go home?"

Yes. Who on the list of Democrats running for president has the fortitude to see this through? None.