A Modest Proposal
An Iraqi Vote on Troop Withdrawal
Over the years, we’ve seen various “exit strategies” proposed for withdrawal from Iraq. The best proposal was made by a Baghdad man on his way to a demonstration just a few days after that city fell. A U.S. reporter asked what should happen now. The man turned to the reporter and said, “Thank you for getting rid of Saddam. Now please leave our country.”
That advice was probably the best input that United States policy makers ever received (if they even noticed). It was freely offered and no one died in the process.
Why not give democracy a chance?
The Iraqis have a right to a direct vote on the options for U.S. troop withdrawal.
The ballot would be simple.
Should U.S. troops leave Iraq? Yes No
If you answered Yes, how soon should they leave?
Immediately __ 6 months __ 12 months__ 18 months__
REDDIT!
read more after the jump
Iraqis have wanted the U.S. out of their country almost from day one. Various surveys show that a solid majority of citizens want coalition troops to leave within a year. In 2004, 86% of Iraqis wanted U.S. troops out – 41% immediately and 46% after a new government was established. At the start of 2006, 94% of all Iraqis supported their government setting a timeline for U.S. withdrawal from immediate departure to a timed departure over two years. A few months later, even a poll by the U.S. Department of State showed nearly 70% of citizens wanted U.S. occupation to end.
Polls in 2007 and 2008 conducted by a variety of organizations demonstrate that a majority of Iraqis want foreign troops to leave.
Here’s why they’re upset. Over a million Iraqis have died in sectarian and other forms of violence kicked off by the U.S. invasion. For the most part, this has been Iraqis killing other Iraqis, an outcome of the extensive civil strife that was predicted before the invasion.
In addition, the quality of life in Iraq is dreadful and the citizens do notice. Since 2007, large segments of the population describe a “declining quality/availability of (the) electricity supply, water, fuel, education, local government and medical care.” Harm to an immediate family member was reported by 17% of Iraqis.
But the Iraqis are no fools. They’ve lived with the darkest expressions of the Bush – Cheney White House since March 2003. Nearly 80% of all Iraqis believe that coalition troops won’t withdraw even if they’re asked. .
Just a month after the citizens of the United States saw the neoconservatives and their dreams of empire leave power , a new plan was announced. Most U.S. troops will be withdrawn by within 18 months. Thirty to fifty thousand will remain to help with security and the never ending process of training Iraqi security forces.
Aren’t we missing a step?
Who asked the Iraqi people about the withdrawal schedule? As the self-proclaimed proponents for democracy and human rights, shouldn’t the United States inquire as to the will of the people before initiating any policy changes? Failing to do so means we’ve skipped a critical step. How democratic is that? It’s their country after all.
Did someone forget to raise those questions when the new plans were developed?
Relying on the ever shifting positions of a very unpopular Iraqi government is useless in assessing the will of the Iraqi people. The only way to determine their will is through a national election. Should U.S. troops stay or go? If they should go, what is the preferred timeline?
Those who speak the language of empire might say that this modest proposal, democracy for Iraq, allows Iraqi citizens to determine U.S. foreign policy.
The answer to that is simple. Right now U.S. foreign policy trumps Iraqi domestic policy and democracy. Denying the vote to the Iraqis on this most vital matter denies their rights to self determination and belies the role of the United States as a proponent of democracy.
A 2003 Senate Committee on Foreign Relations report on Iraq stated that:
“Iraqis remain a proud people. Gratitude over the removal of Saddam mixes with a strong strain of nationalism. Military occupation elicits complex reactions, and Iraqis, citing their long history of civilization, believe that they are capable of running their own affairs.” Committee on Foreign Relations, July 2003
That statement was made in 2003. It’s 2009.
Do we believe in the right of self determination for the long suffering people of Iraq? If so, at long last, let’s prove it by letting them chose their own fate.
END
Permission granted to reproduce in whole or in part with attribution of authorship and a link to this article.
uhm, no. they don’t have a right. what part of “occupying army” don’t you understand? not to mention, they’re US troops. when did US voters get to directly vote on their deployment or withdrawal?
this reads like one of the Prop pick-a-number-any-number votes in Oregon or California, the ol’ bait and switch in action. personally, I believe in self-determination for myself, you can go get yer own.
Testimony of Dr. Steven Kull
Director, Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA),
University of Maryland
Director, WorldPublicOpinion.org
July 23, 2008 – 2:00 PM
Before House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight
Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Bill Delahunt: And next we have Dr. Steven Kull, the director of the Program on International Policy Attitudes testified during the kickoff in the wrap-up hearing for our hearings — our inquiry, rather, into how the United States is viewed by the rest of the world.
I don’t have the time to list his various expert qualifications as a pollster, because he has just one that counts to most the me: There’s nobody that we trust more to interpret polling and focus groups results for us, and today he will address and educate us on Iraqi opinion about the issues surrounding the U.S.-Iraq agreement: timetables, withdrawals, sovereignty and the presence of U.S. forces.
Thank you again, Steve, for joining us…. Dr. Kull, would you please proceed?
DR. KULL: Thank you for inviting me to speak. Today I will be addressing the question of how the Iraqi people view the presence of US troops in Iraq and, more importantly, what they want to see happen in the future. As I will demonstrate, the Iraqi people are showing signs of impatience with the pace of US withdrawal.
Now one may ask why this matters. Obviously the Iraqi people will not be negotiating the agreements about US forces in Iraq. As long as the government wants US troops there, one may believe that it does not matter what the Iraqi public thinks.
However, it does appear that the Iraqi government is paying attention to the Iraqi public. As you probably know, 144 of the 275 members of Parliament signed a letter calling for a timetable for the withdrawal of US troops, citing as a key reason the attitudes of the Iraqi people. This call for a timetable was then reiterated in the June 3rd letter presented to the US Congress from representatives of the Iraqi Parliament. Just in the last few days Prime Minister Maliki has been increasingly aligning himself with this public pressure. This may well be influenced by the prospect of upcoming elections.
Thus, if the US government wishes to play a constructive role in the future of Iraq it behooves us to understand better the dynamics of public opinion and thus the forces of the political universe within which Iraqi leaders are operating.
Furthermore, Iraqis’ attitudes about US forces are likely to affect their readiness to cooperate with coalition efforts to fight the insurgency, or even their readiness to support the insurgency. There is evidence that many Iraqis do support attacks on US troops and that this attitude is related to perceptions of US long-term intentions in Iraq. Thus dealing with these perceptions is critical to the success of the mission.
So turning now to the polling data: is the story simply that Iraqis want US forces to leave Iraq? I will indeed be presenting some data that say that Iraqis want US troops to leave within a near-term time frame.
But I will then show some data suggesting that their attitudes are not quite that simple: That there is some interest in a continuing relationship with US forces, but only in a context in which the relationship between the US and the Iraqi government is fundamentally changed from what it is now.
more
“The absence of any US-Iran bilateral channel…may have the perverse effect of reinforcing Iranian interest in progressing in the nuclear realm so that the US will be forced to take it seriously and engage it directly.” ~ Richard Haass
voted on by the Iraqi people in mid-2009, and, depending upon the wording of the referendum, all US troops must leave by latter part of 2010. The referendum was a concession of sorts to Sunni parties who objected to timelines set forth in the SOFA, and al-Maliki government needed some sweetners to get influential leaders on board. Of course, this referendum business could become bogged down in procedural delays, and who knows if it will indeed come off. However, as we know, al-Maliki played the “nationalist” card in the runup to the most recent elections in Iraq, and much public support accrued to him as a result of his perceived “toughness” in negotiating terms of the SOFA. Let’s see how Iraqi public opinion plays out as a result of the Obama administration’s “responsible withdrawal” position, and if people there see it as occupation-lite.
“les Etats-unis, c’est le seul pays à être passé de la préhistoire à la décadence sans jamais connaitre la civilisation… Georges Clemenceau