Throwing away victory in Iraq

Amir Taheri:

'WHERE are the Ameri cans?" Talk to Iraqis in Baghdad these days, and you'll likely hear the question.

Of course, everyone knows where the Americans are physically. The 130,000 US troops cantoned in a diminishing number of barracks outside the cities make their presence felt on occasion. The thousands of civilian Americans who are helping build a new Iraq are also easy to spot.

The question refers to the United States' fast-fading political profile.

Those who deem Iraq as the biggest US foreign-policy success in decades are baffled by Washington's determined efforts to deny that reality -- indeed, whenever possible, to try to undermine it.

Having labeled Iraq the "bad war" as opposed to the "good war" in Afghanistan, the Obama administration has tried to minimize its commitment to the newly liberated nation. President Obama has appointed special envoys on the Middle East, Iran and the Afghanistan-Pakistan tandem, but refuses to name a senior coordinator for Iraq policy. The Iraqis feel that the administration is treating them as a stepchild -- perhaps tolerated, but never loved.

That perception affects political calculations across the board. With the US air-blowing itself out of the picture, Iran and a bloc of conservative Arab states are positioning themselves for a duel focused on next January's general election.

...

"Why are the Americans throwing away our common victory?" asks Iraqi journalist Maad Fayad. "It is absurd for [the Obama administration] to base its policy on Iraq on a weird desire to prove that Bush was wrong."

Yet that is what they seem to be doing. It is not that surprising since Obama said that genocide was an acceptable price for withdrawing from Iraq rather than the surge to victory that the Bush administration pushed. You can bet that this administration will also blame any negative events in Iraq on the bush policy.

Throwing away success also risks the lives of millions of Iraqis who have stood up to the enemy and shown that democracy has a chance in the Middle East Arab states.

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