Iraqis' Bind

Matthew Yglesias brings up conservative attacks on Iraqis for their insufficient loyalty to the occupation. I find their short-sightedness breathtaking. Pretty much everyone I know from the developing world finds American rhetoric about freedom and democracy cheap talk. The United States has helped build democracies, such as Japan after World War II, as we have made such crucial humanitarian interventions as stopping the genocide in Kosovo in 1999. However, all too frequently we opt to support a friendly dictator, such as the Shah of Iran (restored after the CIA helped depose Mossadeq), Pinochet (whom the U.S. helped bring to power), and, of course, Saddam Hussein, whom we notably failed to support insurrection against in 1991.

These occasions are usually defended as a necessary sacrifice for the greater good. The Cold War, according to this line of thought, was a war of freedom against totalitarianism, and if NATO did not have secure allies in the resource-rich developing world, the Soviet Union would gain in influence and threaten to dominate the globe. Implicit in this is the presumption that democracy in France is more important than democracy in Chile. But that double standard aside, the justification of these actions remained the idea that some must suffer that others might live free.

Now, conservatives have decided that we shall promote democracy in the Arab world. This is a goal I strongly support, as do most Americans. However, one does not simply waltz into the neighborhood and expect these promises to be taken at face value, especially when we're associated with such questionable fellows as Ahmed Chalabi. The Iraqis understand that the United States is a nation-state acting in its own self-interest. And the question on Iraqis' minds has to be one of trust. If they take a strong stand now, are they risking their lives for freedom and democracy, or an American puppet regime?

Fred Barnes may be a very idealistic fellow who wants only the best for everyone. But Iraqis are used to living in a world of realpolitik in which they are mere chess pieces in a global oil game. And it will take more than a few speeches to convince them otherwise.