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May 10, 2003
Core Principles for a Free Iraq
Note: this is a post recovered from my old blog, before it died of an insufficient backup. Any comments/trackbacks on it have not been brought over, but can be seen with the original. The date is that of the original posting.
Don Rumsfeld has an article in today's WSJ that is worth reading, on the future of Iraq.
It is now just seven weeks since Iraq's liberation--and the challenges are there. As Thomas Jefferson put it, "we are not to expect to be translated from despotism to liberty in a featherbed." It took time and patience, but eventually our Founders got it right--and we hope so will the people of Iraq--over time.We have a stake in their success. For if Iraq--with its size, capabilities, and resources--is able to move to the path of representative democracy, the impact in the region and the world could be dramatic. Iraq could conceivably become a model--proof that a moderate Muslim state can succeed in the battle against extremism taking place in the Muslim world today.
We are committed to helping the Iraqi people get on that path to a free society. We do not have an American "template" we want to impose: Iraqis will figure out how to build a free nation in a manner that reflects their unique culture and traditions.
Rumsfeld lays out current and future Coalition activities. I must say that I've been a bit worried about the focus of the occupation, because it would be very easy to give in to the Scylla of turning Iraq over to Iraqis and getting out as fast as we can, or to the Charybdis of imposing forms and methods of governance on Iraqis. Reading Rumsfeld's list of principles, I am more confident now than ever that the Bush administration is steering a good course.
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