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A Way Out of Iraq
By Jamal R. Nassar
09/27/05 "ICH" -- -- Our troops are not the first to enter Iraq after a military victory. In 1917, the British did so as well. General Stanley Maude made a speech to the Iraqi public as he entered Baghdad. In that speech, he told the people of Iraq: “We come to you not as occupiers, but as liberators.” When the British finally left Iraq in 1932, they left behind a cemetery with the remains of 33,000 British soldiers buried there. Most of those were killed at the hands of a vicious insurgency determined to rid the homeland of foreign troops. History is there for us to learn from rather than repeat.
Regardless of the reasons that put us in Iraq or our intentions for the future of the country, many in Iraq and the Middle East region harbor vivid memories of foreign occupiers. Many believe that we invaded the country for its oil resources rather than its oppressive regime. In a recent visit to the region, I was told over and over that the United States will never leave Iraq and will surely create permanent military bases there. I hope and pray that they are wrong. The fact remains that such perceptions fuel an indigenous insurgency and play into the hands of extremists flocking into Iraq to fight the Americans. In sum, our military presence in Iraq is counter productive to our political objectives. It simply leads to more terrorism rather than defeat it. Our soldiers have done a superb job in ending a repressive regime. They won the war. Military leaders tell us that there is no military solution for Iraq, only a political one. What is needed now is a fundamental change of course in order for Iraqis to win the peace.
In order to do so, we need to focus on the extreme consequences of increasing terrorism. It is time for a reality check. We cannot and should not simply withdraw our troops without a plan for the future of the country. If we do so, Iraq will slip into civil war that will produce more violence directed not only against Iraqis, but also against us and the rest of the world. We need a plan for an orderly withdrawal and transition to peace in Iraq. To do so, a shift from a military model to a conflict resolution model is needed and soon.
First, President Bush should state clearly and boldly that the United States has no plans to control Iraqi oil and no desire to maintain long term military bases in Iraq. Such a statement should be distributed and repeated throughout Iraq and the Middle East. State Department spokesmen, military officials and other representatives of the U.S. in the region need to constantly reinforce this message.
Second, the Bush Administration should approach Arab countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and others to plan on sending an Arab peace keeping force to Iraq. As Arab troops arrive, U.S. troops could start their withdrawal from the country. Arab troops will be more able to hold the peace as they will have no language or cultural barriers. Leaders of these countries should have no option to opt out of sending their forces. They are all close friends of the U.S. and are dependant upon our economic, political or security assistance. Between them, it should not be hard to assemble a force equivalent to our military presence there. This Arab peace keeping force should be placed under Iraqi leadership.
Third, The U.S. should request that the United Nations appoint a peace envoy, independent of the government of Iraq, to begin a mission of peace among all Iraqis. The envoy, a personality like Nelson Mandela or another respected individual, should work to develop a formula for peace talks among all parties within Iraq, including insurgent groups in order to explore a political settlement.
Fourth, the U.S. should continue to train Iraqi police and military forces. Such training, however, ought to take place in some other place outside of Iraq. Some Eastern European countries come to mind. This will protect American trainers and their Iraqi trainees.
Finally, the U.S. should continue its humanitarian and reconstruction mission in Iraq with the help of other wealthy states. Countries like Kuwait and Saudi Arabia should be approached to cover the lion’s share of such cost. After all, a secure Iraq contributes to security within their own states. With the price of oil as it is today, neither should have financial difficulty in doing so.
It is time that we begin to refocus our attention and resources away from war and into conflict resolution. The plan presented here is doable and could be started within months if not weeks. Our troops could be home while Iraqis find their own way for the future of their country.
Jamal R. Nassar <jnassar@ilstu.edu>
is chair of the Department of Politics and Government at Illinois State University. He is the author of “Globalization and Terrorism: The Migration of Dreams and Nightmares,” and other books on the Middle East.
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