"Plan B" is an option for defeat in Iraq

SAMIR SUMAIDA'IE:

AS the debate on Iraq rages on, we hear more and more voices that call for throwing in the towel and leaving the mess to Iraqis to sort out. A new and unexpected proponent of this argument is Thomas Friedman of The New York Times, who said in a recent column that it's time for "Plan B." Only a few months before, he was arguing that it would be time for the United States to pack up and go only "when we don't see Iraqis taking the risk to build a progressive Iraq." Now, under the weight of bad news from Baghdad, he seems ready to abandon those very same brave men and women fighting valiantly to establish peace and justice in Iraq. I am an admirer of Friedman, who is generally thoughtful, well-informed and supportive, but in this case he and many like him have gone dangerously off-track.

The controversy over the decision by the United States to remove the Saddam Hussein regime should not prevent an honest assessment of the situation of Iraq today. That the post-Saddam period was not well-managed is now widely acknowledged. But we are where we are, and there is a future for all our children to secure. Plan B, advocated by Friedman and others, is to abandon the region to religious fanatics and Baathist terrorists. It is nothing but a declaration of defeat dressed up to look like a vision for the future.

Our enemies' strategy has never changed: creating mayhem and making Iraq ungovernable, thereby driving the Americans and their allies out, and installing a Saddam look-alike to "make peace." In pursuing this strategy, they have forged alliances and changed course and tactics many times. Just as they kept to their strategy and adapted, we should do the same. "Staying the course" should mean being ready to adapt and learn while also standing firm for democracy and a new vision for the country and the region. If we abandon our effort, our enemies win by default.

Those in the new government and leaders of civil society in Iraq are putting their lives on the line every day to advance a democratic society. And it is this that our enemies are most afraid of — not U.S. forces but a real democracy in the Middle East that would showcase human rights, women in politics and the rule of law. And they fear that this "worst-case scenario" could prove to be contagious.

What has made the past three years hugely more difficult and complicated is the fact that we all underestimated the determination of our opponents and some of our neighbors to undermine this new project. In the context of a global confrontation, this has pitched our fledgling democracy onto the front line of a monumental struggle. It is these outside forces, allied with Saddamists, other terrorists and regular criminals, that threaten to overwhelm us.

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In that last paragraph he has named whose side the Democrats who oppose the war are on. This is a very thoughful and well argued piece by the Iraqi ambassador to the US. It is too bad that the anti war left is not this smart.