 Model
Arab democracy
United States needs to continue forward with Iraq
policies
By Andy Noble, Indianapolis, Indiana
June 3, 2003
The Iranian
We recently won the war, but could we lose the peace? History
is about to repeat itself…. Baghdad is now ‘liberated’,
with the help of the United States and its’ coalition partners.
We have already spent billions of US dollars on military action
in this country, so pivotal and important to bringing lasting peace
and stability in the unpredictable Middle East.
President Bush, facing re-election next year (2004), like former
President Richard Nixon in 1973 sought for Vietnam, is seeking a
multi-year US financial commitment to aid Iraq in the re-building
of this nation, so critical to establishing a modern Arab model
democracy in the region. Without it, the region remains fractious
and unstable, with regimes like Syria, Iran and even Saudi Arabia
representing vastly different, yet unpredictable, policies and relationships
with the U.S.
1974: Richard Nixon falls to Watergate in 1973, and the Republicans
pay dearly for it in the 1974 congressional elections, losing key
seats to the Democratic Party. The Democratically-controlled Congress
cuts aid to Vietnam, originally pegged at over $6 billion a year
(1974 values) to less than $600 million, saying we need to focus
our attention domestically to other important priorities. The rest
is history, as we had failed and abandoned Vietnam in helping rebuild
and influence their country and the region, as it had remained out
of the world economy and US sphere of influence until recently.
2004: The US economy continues to waver, and George W. Bush falls
to the same defeat his father did – based solely on a lagging
economy and voter dissatisfaction. Democrats take back the White
House, or just as important, take back a majority in the Congress,
 cutting back aid to Iraq
and repealing the 2001 tax cuts in favor of a new domestically-focused
agenda. Iraq suffers, and tends toward a more Islamic-influenced,
less democratically-elected government with input from Iran and
Syria, and eventually a familiar leadership structure emerges again
that is anti-Western and oppressive economically and socially toward
the people of Iraq.
Can it all happen again? History may tell, but we need to continue
forward with our policies on Iraq, with the same President and his
agenda, for the sake of history and American influence in the Middle
East.
Author
Andy D. Noble is President of Plateau
Development Group, in Indianapolis, Indiana.
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Model
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