Yesterday, 48 hours ahead of schedule, Iraqis took the next momentous step on their road to a multi-ethnic freedom. The only people disappointed by the premature handover of power to the interim Iraqi government under Prime Minister Iyad Allawi will have been the terrorists, who undoubtedly planned further savagery to celebrate the scheduled handover tomorrow.
Between now and January next year, when elections will be held for a national assembly which in turn will formulate a new constitution to be voted on in an autumn referendum, the interim rulers of Iraq have one major challenge — to crush the terrorists. While behind the scenes further important government work will continue in education, the health services, the utilities and other infrastructure, none of these efforts will count for anything, unless the security situation is brought firmly under control.
As of yesterday, on paper at least Iraqis are in command of the destiny of the Iraqi people. The role of foreign troops, now known as the Multinational Force (MNF) no longer the Coalition, will continue to be crucial for one very sobering reason. If the level of violence in Iraq is as bad as it is now, how much more devastating would it be if the 160,000 soldiers from 30 different countries were not presently on the ground? Any argument that their initial arrival generated today’s problems are specious. Prime Minister Allawi has to deal with the present reality and that reality is clearly that until Iraqi security forces are properly trained in sufficient numbers, Iraq must rely on the MNF to combat the terrorists.
The key UN Security Council resolution which appeared to finally unite the international community in the common cause of securing peace and prosperity in Iraq, was however ambiguous about the degree of control that the Iraqi administration would have over its foreign protectors. While it is understandable that foreign commanders need the freedom to make tactical decisions, particularly for the protection of their men, it is crucial that the strategy of the fight against the terrorists is signed off by the interim government. Such endorsement should not be a mere polite formality. The success of this next stage for Iraq depends upon the confidence that ordinary people will have in the claim that they really are taking back the direction of their own affairs.
Most Iraqis simply do not yet believe this. They would like to of course but everything that has happened in their country in the last 15 months has had the fingerprints of Washington all over it. They see little reason to accept that a government endorsed by the US is likely to be more than a rubber stamp for continuing foreign control.
From now on, the US Embassy in Baghdad’s Green Zone is supporting, not running the country. It should not exceed that role. Washington and its allies must understand that the greatest weapon that can be deployed against the terrorists is the faith and pride of the Iraqi people in their country’s future. Only as that grows, will the power of the savage insurgents will shrink.
