The Fundamental Challenge of the 21st Century

OFFAL sez:

The United States of America must understand it’s in our interests that we help this democracy succeed. As a matter of fact, it’s in our interests that we help reformers across the Middle East achieve their objectives. This is the fundamental challenge of the 21st century. A failed Iraq would make America less secure. A failed Iraq in the heart of the Middle East will provide safe haven for terrorists and extremists. It will embolden those who are trying to thwart the ambitions of reformers. In this case, it would give the terrorists and extremists an additional tool besides safe haven, and that is revenues from oil sales. [Emphasis added. White House: Press Conference by the President]

Well, good thing we don’t have a “failed Iraq” on our hands! After all, it’s still only ranked 4th on the 2006 failed states index!

That aside, and I’m only reading in between the lines here and picking up the thinnest strand of an undercurrent; but if OFFAL is saying what I think he’s accidentally implying, then there may actually be some truth inside this statement, like the proverbial riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.

See, I think the “fundamental challenge of the 21st century” will be increased competition for increasingly scarce energy resources. Also, to my mind, it seems as though “our interests” and “American security” consist of keeping the power to exploit world energy (and other) resources in order to maintain our exuberant way of life; without resorting to conservation or shelling-out to invest in a large scale conversion to renewable energy.

I’d call the elements in the Mid East who oppose women becoming educated, and religious freedom — who resist “the ambitions of reformers” seeking modernization — “extremists.” (But the extremists are not the sole proprietors of terrorism. All factions— including US —have resorted to terrorism in this snarly circle-jerk-cum-tug-of-war we call Iraq.)

But do we actually believe that a loosely organized band of suicide bombers and guerilla fighters will take control of a failed Iraq’s oil industry, whatever that’d look like, and begin reaping all the profits to fund more (and really expensive!) terrorist activity? No. We just don’t trust the extremists— who could very possibly shuffle a little of that oil money out to terrorists —to respect “our interests” and “American security” in the broader sense.

So, are we really there to help the reformers in Iraq? What do the everyday people in Iraq think about all of this?

Iraqi blogger and activist Raed Jarrar:

Why don’t you go and talk to any Iraqi in the street or talk with Iraqi leaders, elected officials or civil society leaders? All of them blame the occupation for the current sectarian violence, and all of them realize that Iraqis have been living in harmony and peace for the last 1,400 years. And none of these incidents used to happen before the occupation started in Iraq. So people blame the occupation there, and people say, “The day that the occupation will leave Iraq, this sectarian violence will go down. We know how to deal with our problems by ourselves. We know how to take out these people who are trying to increase the civilian conflict and civilian and sectarian tension in Iraq.” [Democracy Now!: Iraqi Peace Activist Forced to Change T-Shirt Bearing Arabic Script Before Boarding Plane at JFK]

So when a vast majority of Iraqi parliamentarians ask that we leave Iraq, why don’t we give them, 1400 years of history and the Iraqi people the benefit of the doubt?

Because we don’t really believe that a vast majority of Iraqi parliamentarians and 1400 years of history will champion “our interests” and “American security.” Mainly because, and rightly so, authentic democracies champion their own people’s interests and security.

MTT: We noticed last Friday, that the Administration is “considering alternatives other than democracy” in Iraq. Look for an Iraqi dictator, an obedient client, hand-picked for certain less-than-compassionate traits, propped up by the presence of permanent US military bases in Iraq.

It’s the permanent occupation of Iraq for strategic control of Mid-East energy resources, stupid!