The Christian Science Monitor has an interesting piece on the signs of a new momentum in Iraq. 100 days after the fall of the tyrannical Hussein regime, the situation in Iraq is still unsettled, but signs of progress in stablizing the country are everywhere.
"The psychology of the situation has changed … to create a momentum for the [US-led coalition] that did not exist before," says Robert Pfaltzgraff, an international- security expert at Tufts University’s Fletcher School in Medford, Mass.
The latest car bomb attack on the Jordian embassy was a massive mistake by the perpetrators. By killing ordinary Iraqis it only cements the bonds between the Iraqi people and the coalition. The Iraqis have been taking a pragmatic attitude towards reconstruction. They don’t exactly like having foreign troops everywhere, but they also realize those troops are the ones responsible for keeping order and restoring services. The average Ahmed and Rana Iraqi are not the ones taking potshots at coalition troops. The people doing that are al-Qaeda fighters and the last reminants of the Fedayeen Saddam. What the news isn’t reporting is the one-sided nature of the conflict. For every US serviceman or woman killed, dozens of militants are being rounded up and detained or killed in firefights. US Special Forces are constantly attacking insurgant positions and killing and capturing militant fighters.
This isn’t a Vietnam, nor is it a quagmire. It’s an ongoing struggle, mainly against the horrendous decay that the Hussein regime allowed to take over the country. Within the next few months Iraq will have its own army and begin to have its own police force. Already the Iraqis see the need for both, and are seeing that the militants are hurting them more than the United States. As the responsibility for basic patrols and security functions are taken over by the Iraqis we can start bringing home larger numbers of troops.
The rebuilding of Iraq was always going to be an exercise in patience. It will take far more than 100 days to restore order and services to Iraq. The process of rebuilding was guaranteed from the outset to be a long and difficult process and no one in the Administration said that it would be easy to do so. However, the Administration is doing the right thing by sticking to the task and not bowing to pressure, foreign or domestic. The most important thing that the United States can do to ensure a more peaceful Middle East is to finish the job in Iraq. Fortunately, that’s exactly what we will do.
Today’s al-Qaida killers were yesterday’s “average Ahmed and Rana Iraqis.” And the longer the US occupation lingers, the more Ahmeds and Ranas are gonna be susceptible to the rhetoric of the hate mongers and murderers. I don’t think too many people are advocating that we abandon Iraq now, betraying our moral duty to clean up the mess we made. Unfortunately, we have foolishly taken that first step, thus putting in a scenario where we’re gonna be damned if we do and damned if we don’t.
Today’s al-Qaida killers were yesterday’s “average Ahmed and Rana Iraqis.” And the longer the US occupation lingers, the more Ahmeds and Ranas are gonna be susceptible to the rhetoric of the hate mongers and murderers. I don’t think too many people are advocating that we abandon Iraq now, betraying our moral duty to clean up the mess we made. Unfortunately, we have foolishly taken that first step, thus putting ourselves in a scenario where we’re gonna be damned if we do and damned if we don’t.