Earning Freedom
Jonathan Rhodes
25 April 2003 |
"You don't go from despotism to freedom on a featherbed." |
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- Donald Rumsfeld |
The "Press" continues to press. They dig, they make snide, malicious inferences, they believe in vast conspiratorial bogeymen so that they can believe themselves the White Knights of truth and justice.
Well, here is reality - in the noble endeavor accomplished by V Corps and the 3rd Infantry Division; Special Forces, United States Marines, Airborne, Sailors and Airmen; British, Australian and Polish troops, not one reporter really made a difference. Those proud warriors brought liberation to the people of Iraq. Now the US owes it to those warriors to grind through the growing pains of democracy. It is up to the Iraqis to rise to the occasion and earn their freedom. So far, the Iraqis have only shown the expected over exuberance of being released from bondage. Their statesmen have to come forward, perhaps they have to first awaken to their opportunity. Now, of course, those whose attacks are made by inferring malfeasance, are frothing at the lack of instant democracy in Iraq, complaining that America is being unfair in maintaining unilateral control of the country and pining for a full retreat of American forces. Personally, I can barely stand to even watch the news cycle, it is so filled with failure - failure to appreciate the historic events that have just occurred, failing to exult in the birth of freedom and instead subjecting Americans to a steady onslaught of whining, bitching reportage.
We hear that America is arrogant for maintaining unilateral control over Iraq and at the same time are criticized for not accomplishing control faster!
The French and Russians whine that only multilateralism - the failed stepchild of the UN - holds the moral high ground. Meanwhile, they are blocking removal of economic sanctions now that Saddam has gone. Can you imagine? While they profited from the sanctions for years and called for their removal to further legitimize their economic ties to Saddam, they now do an about face to maintain the sanctions so they can maintain some political and economic power over Iraq. If that is allowed, the insult to those who served in freeing Iraq, and in particular to those who died doing so, would be insurmountable.
We are told the Iraqis hate America and want an Iranian style theocracy - When only clerics and their supporters - who would thus gain power - are demanding such government, are using what infrastructure they have to provide civil services to the population and through those services claiming power. Well of course they are! The "religious" leaders and their accompanying infrastructure was the only "political" power to exist besides Hussein, so they are the first to the plate now that a power vacuum exists. And of course the Iranian theocrats are supporting that movement. Donald Rumsfeld said this today: "This much is certain: A vocal minority clamoring to transform Iraq in Iran's image will not be permitted to do so. We will not allow the Iraqi people's democratic transition to be hijacked for -- by those who might wish to install another form of dictatorship.
Our policy in Iraq is simple. It is to stay as long as necessary to finish our work and then to leave Iraq to the Iraqi people as soon as that work is done."
Meanwhile, a million Shiites who got to hold a religious march not allowed since Hussein took power, and who actually had little to say about America, are brought to us as an example of rebellion against America. Ridiculous! Anyone with a modicum of sense can see that these people are exercising freedom of religion, brought to them by the warriors of the coalition.
IT HAS BEEN BARELY TWO WEEKS SINCE SADDAM'S STATUE WAS BROUGHT DOWN IN AL-FARDUS SQUARE! TIKRIT FELL ONLY 11 DAYS AGO! YET WE HEAR FROM THE PRESS, "When will you leave?" and "Why aren't you finished yet?": Every possible way the issue can be "pressed", the questions are repeated: Rumsfeld was speaking of plans to set up an interim authority in Iraq - an early phase of the planned reconstruction process. The press asks, insistently, "Do you-all have any better sense when that interim authority may be set up? Weeks? Months?"
Reality from Rumsfeld: "It really has got to proceed at a pace that the Iraqi people are comfortable with. The whole thing to remember about it is whatever is set up will be interim. And it will not be permanent, it will be temporary. It will serve for a period. And it will be as representative as is possible in a situation like we find in Iraq. These are not people who have enjoyed democracy. They don't have political parties. They're not organized for this."
"And what we're going to have to do is see that interim authority has enough people representing enough elements in that country that when it is set up, people look at it and say, "If that's the group that's going to figure out a way to draft a constitution, that's the way -- group that's going to figure out how you set this country on the path to the permanent authority" -- just -- if you go back to Afghanistan, the loya jirga process produced the interim authority, the interim authority produced a process that led to a -- will eventually lead to a more permanent government -- a permanent government. But they've not gotten there in Afghanistan yet. That's still en route. So it will be time -- it takes time. And it's going well." (Donald Rumsfeld: Press Conference 25 April 2003)
The post-World War II occupation of Germany was a huge and diverse undertaking spanning almost eleven years, conducted in conjunction with three other members of the wartime alliance. The occupation went on, with the Army as the executive agency for military government until 1949, and the Army continued to provide the occupation force until 1955. In Japan, the initial period of the occupation from 1945 to 1948 was marked by reform, the second phase was one of stabilization. The treaty of peace with Japan was signed at San Francisco in September 1951 by Japan, the United States, and forty-seven other nations. The treaty went into effect in April 1952, officially terminating the United States military occupation and restoring full independence. In the US, the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776, the Revolutionary War ended in 1783 and the US Constitution was not ratified until 1789.
So stop the whining, complaining and hand-wringing! This will take a long time. Freedom has to be earned - it does not come easily.
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