Ambassador
"Building Hope for a United, Peaceful and Stable Iraq"
By U.S. Ambassador to Denmark, James P. Cain
Op-Ed in Jyllands-Posten
December15, 2005
In an important speech November 30, President Bush stood before the world and the future leaders of America's military at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland and presented a strategy for victory in Iraq. In his remarks, the President quoted Iraqi Army Sergeant Abbass Abdul Jabar about the need for the Iraqis to stand up and eventually take over security responsibilities in their own country.
"We have to help the coalition forces as much as we can to give them a chance to go home," said the Iraqi officer. "These guys have been helping us. [Now] we have to protect our own families."
Samia Aziz Mohammed, the winner of Venstre's 2005 Freedom Award and a candidate for a seat in the Iraqi parliament, while in Denmark recently echoed those words saying: "I would like to thank the Danish troops supporting us in Iraq for creating peace so that we can get on with our new democracy."
The issue is how do we get to where Samia Aziz Mohammed and Sergeant Abbass Abdul Jabar want to go. President Bush answered that question in his speech. He defined victory in Iraq in three stages: short-, medium- and long-term.
Over the short term, we need to make steady progress in building democratic institutions and training Iraqi security forces. On a more intermediate basis, we need a constitutional government in place that can fight terrorists, provide security for its citizens, and allow Iraqis to achieve their economic potential.
Our ultimate, long-term goal is an Iraq that is united, peaceful, stable and fully integrated into the international community.
It will not be easy to achieve the milestones on this path to creating conditions in which a united, peaceful and stable Iraqi can join the international community. Iraq must overcome decades of brutal tyranny, fight ruthless insurgents and terrorists, and overcome the efforts of neighbors -- Iran and Syria -- that are hostile to the country's development as a stable and unified democracy.
Most importantly, all Iraqis must work together. The Sunnis must join the political process. They have to come to terms with the fact that they can no longer have a monopoly on power. Early signs are encouraging. The Sunnis are now making it clear that they are going to participate in the December 15th elections.
The pundits who are painting a bleak picture of Iraq are failing to take into account what Iraqis themselves are thinking. Last month the International Republican Institute conducted a poll in Iraq to gauge how the political transition is perceived. Most Iraqis are optimistic about their future. 53 percent feel things will be much better or better in six months, 65 percent in one year and 72 percent in five years. "Freedom and democracy" is the reason most given by Iraqis who feel the country is headed in the right direction. Iraqis also cite the "existence of a nationally elected government", "improved infrastructure" and "having a constitution" as reasons why the country is moving in the right direction.
Further proof of Iraqi buy-in to the political process can be found in the fact that an overwhelming majority of Iraqis plan to vote on December 15 to elect a permanent national assembly, which will be called the Council of Representatives. Iraqis believe in the transition to democracy.
The Iraqi business community shares this optimism. Earlier this fall Zogby International conducted a poll of Iraqi businessmen on behalf of the Center for International Private Enterprise. The percentage of business leaders who say they are optimistic about Iraq’s economic future is a very healthy 69 percent. While less than half of Iraqi business owners expect their own firms’ profits to climb in the next six months, more than three-quarters anticipate growth in the national economy over the next two years. These same businessmen have only slightly less confidence in Iraq’s political future: 60 percent say that they feel good about political prospects, while 26 percent are neutral and six percent are not sure. These are encouraging signs from the people who will do the most to create a better economic future for Iraqis.
We must not let the Iraqi people down. Improving the security situation is an essential precondition for lasting political and economic progress in Iraq. President Bush has been very clear about what this will take. He called it "clear, hold and build." We need to clear insurgents and foreign fighters from areas that they control, secure areas cleared of insurgents, and train Iraqi security forces to assume full responsibility for providing security for Iraqi citizens to rebuild their lives.
Many "expert observers" have offered pessimistic assessments of the readiness of Iraq forces. The fact is that the Iraqi security units are becoming a more independent and effective fighting force. They are fighting courageously today and we have every reason to expect more from them in the future.
This raises the inevitable question about how long coalition troops need to be there. It's a question for Denmark as well as the U.S., the United Kingdom and other coalition partners. President Bush has made it clear that for our part we are not going to decide this issue based on arbitrary deadlines or politics. It's going to be done based on progress on the ground and the advice of military commanders.
Iraqis are not yet ready to take responsibility for security. If the coalition were to pull out now, it would mean handing over Iraq to the Zarqawi faction, to terrorist thugs that want to dominate Iraq, destabilize its neighbors and use Iraq as a training ground and a planning base from which to attack America and Europe.
I agree with Prime Minister Fogh Rasmussen. We need to stay in Iraq as long as necessary and not one day longer. We also share a common goal for Iraq. The majority of Iraqis also share this vision: a united, peaceful and stable Iraq. We must not allow those who have chosen the path of violence to deter us from that goal.