WHAT IF THE US LEAVES IRAQ
?By Abdullah Abu Alsamh
RIYADH (OKAZ) Now that Baghdad has been freed from the clutches of the tyrant and Saddam’s statues have fallen, we are beginning to hear loud and irrational voices in the Arab media demanding the departure of the Americans.
This is a typical example of the demagogy that grips the Arab world, preventing it from applying logic rather than sentiment. Worst of all is such language coming from the educated and enlightened who keep the public misled and misinformed. No wonder the Arab mind is full of superstitious beliefs with a public ripe for incitement and ready to be led into commotion.
Angry and overexcited voices are screaming on television demanding the Americans leave Iraq or face death.
What if the Americans heeded the advice and said to them: "We no longer want to deal with this headache, our mission is over, you come and take over".
I think it would be the biggest catastrophe the Iraqis and all other Arab countries have ever faced.
They would fail miserably and wouldn’t be able to do anything; Iraq would disintegrate into isolated cities with nothing binding them together.
As we have already seen, more opportunists and crooks will present themselves, occupying government buildings and proclaiming themselves rulers.
If anybody thinks an Arab deterrent force is capable of maintaining peace and order in a mosaic Iraq, they are mistaken. Could the Arab League lead a reconstruction and rehabilitation effort to fix the mess left over by Saddam? The answer is definitely no. This is simply because you can’t give what you don’t own.
The same could be said about the United Nations, whose head office and affiliate organisations are saddled with red tape and shacked by lack of funds.
Iraq has only the United States to help. Using its massive human and material resources and advanced technology, America is the only power capable of transforming Iraq.
Calls for its withdrawal would only mean leaving the country to chaos and division while opening the door wide for the intervention by some states with expansionist ambitions.
What is more worrying is that calls for withdrawal within the American administration are gaining momentum on the ground that the reconstruction bill could be colossal, with the process itself taking too much time and energy.
Those wanting to see America out of Iraq should review the history of economic and social development in the Arab world and compare it to other nations. Countries that depended on the former Soviet Union only got failed projects, poor armies and a police system of a government.
Instead of frenzied cries, let us call on America to launch a Marshall plan for Iraq and not to leave the country until after it has recovered fully, so that it may serve as an example for others. WHAT IF THE US LEAVES 4503
Editor’s note The English-language Saudi newspaper "Arab News" published the above article on its 3 May 2003 issue, which appeared in the Arabic language Okaz.
Highlights are from IPS