Elections in Iraq didn't show the Exit

Elections in Iraq didn't show the Exit

by George Kentas, Research Fellow

So long as the U.S. refuses to recognize that invading Iraq was a mistake, it will have trouble

planning and implementing an exit from the turmoil of this country. The January elections have

fallen far short of hopes that they would have helped the U.S. to schedule its withdrawal from

Iraq. The Iraqi insurgency goes on and the U.S.-lead coalition forces are having a hard time trying

to put a stop to it. In a recent report released by the National Security Council, “Mapping the World

2020”, Iraq is portrayed as haven and training ground for terrorists aiming at hurting the U.S. and its

allies. In an article in the International Herald Tribune (January 26), two former Secretaries of State,

H. Kissinger and G. Shultz, argued that the U.S. can think about its exit strategy only when the Iraqi

security forces increase in number and capability and the political reconstruction proceeds after the

election. However, the new Secretary of State, Mrs. C. Rice, could not even say how an exit strategy

would look like.

In a recent interview, President Bush said that, by supporting him in the elections, Americans had

supported his policy for Iraq. However, Mr. Bush’s popularity is low not only at home but also abroad.

Polls show that the Americans feel less secure than they did before the invasion in Iraq and almost half

of them are not optimistic as regards Bush’s second term in the White House. In an article in the

International Herald Tribune (January 25), Mr. Aryeh Neier, president of the Open Society Institute,

summarized the reasons why the world hesitates to trust Mr. Bush’s pledges to support oppressed

peoples and to help those who struggle for liberty and democracy: False reasons for invading Iraq, awful

abuses at Guantanamo and Abu Chraib, reluctance to join the International Criminal Court. Mr. Bush

puts a high stake in Iraq when he talks about a stable and democratic state. Failing to meet his goal

there, he will hurt America’s credibility fatally.

Research & Development Center - Intercollege