THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume V, Issue # 78, March 22, 2003
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
AFTER THE WAR WITH IRAQ -- POSTWAR RECONSTRUCTION:
TRANSFORMING IRAQ & THE WORLD
By Alan Caruba
It is not too soon to look toward the rebuilding of Iraq after the war. "Once Iraqis stabi- lize and liberate their own capabilities and infrastructure, they will turn outward. Then the modern standard-bearers of the world's oldest civilization will use their extraordinary talents as entrepreneurs and facilitators to shine light on knowledge and information gaps all over the Middle East and beyond."
So says Joseph Braude in his book, The New Iraq: Rebuilding the Country for its Peo- ple, the Middle East, and the World ($26.00, Basic Books). A senior analyst for Pyramid Research, a Cambridge, Massachusetts, consulting firm, Braude knows both the history and languages of the Middle East, and he offers an optimistic forecast.
Braude believes that "Iraq can provide a model that strengthens security in the region and reduces bloated military budgets that divert public funds from investment in educa- tion, health, and industry." This aspect of the Middle East's economy has largely gone unreported in the American and European press. The entire economic structure of Iraq will have to be rebuilt from the ground up. Generally unreported as well is an essential aspect of understanding Iraq today. It is totally impoverished. It has no real professional middle class because of the widespread criminality of its government. Its money is virtually without any real value, backed only by its capacity to produce oil.
The antiwar protesters' cry, "No war for oil," is a lie. The U.S.A. imports only 8% of its oil from Iraq. More than 50% of the oil imported to the U.S.A. comes from Canada, Mexico, and Venezuela. Another 18% comes from Angola, Britain, Nigeria, and Nor- way. We import 18% of our oil from Saudi Arabia, and the lessons of the Iraq war will not be lost on its sheiks, nor its people. The U.S.A. will bring tremendous pressure on the Saudi royal family to stop funding terrorism. If they continue, a coup could end their reign.
The transformation of Iraq from a society based on fear into one that taps the human and natural resources of the nation will take time, but may well proceed rather swiftly. The surrender of whole Iraqi divisions suggests its people are eager to be rid of Saddam Hussein and enjoy the blessings of freedom. We know, too, that this transition was ac- complished after World War II with the former Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. Even the former Soviet Union is beginning to build a flourishing capitalist economy. In Red China, there are voices demanding that the concept of private property be instituted. This is the keystone of capitalism.
The liberation of Iraq will generate many positive changes, not only for that nation, but throughout the Middle East. "Baghdad is poised to reclaim its traditional role as a hub of Middle East commerce," says Braude. With the spread of commerce, there comes the spread of new information and new ideas. The Middle East is in desperate need of both. "A viable Iraqi economy will reinvigorate intellectual activity throughout the Arab world by vastly increasing the demand market for Arabic-language books," says Braude, who further notes that Iraqis are considered to be among the region's most voracious read- ers.
The war on Iraq, with its emphasis on removing Saddam Hussein from power, has always been about setting in motion changes that will change the politics and economy of the entire region, and this will change the world as well. It is not just about oil. It is not just about curtailing terrorism. It is profoundly about spreading freedom and constitutional representative government and ending the death grip of fundamentalist Islam on the lives of millions throughout the Middle East and North Africa.
Will there be problems along the way? Yes, most certainly. Iraq was literally created by British politicians after World War I out of the disparate provinces of the former Otto- man Empire. A big question will relate to a call for Kurdish independence and how it would affect, not only Iraq, but Iran and Turkey as well. No one knows how this will play out. A Kurdish population that no longer has to fear Saddam's regime, however, may elect to integrate itself into a modern, reformed Iraq.
Iraq is literally the cradle of civilization. The development and first use of the wheel, the invention of writing, and the emergence of the world's great religions all occurred there. It was also the world's first totalitarian state when the Assyrians ruled, and it was a place, under the rule of Cyrus, where there was religious freedom. Its history is the his- tory of the struggle between the worst elements of human nature with its best elements.
It has fallen to the United States of America and its allies to liberate Iraq and, in doing so, liberate the Middle East from the ignorance and backwardness of the worst aspects of Islam. The Iraqis have the capacity to join the modern world, if given the opportunity. They have the potential of demonstrating to millions throughout the region and the world that freedom is the way of the future.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
The Middle East & the Problem of Iraq
Page Two
Page One
The Problem of Rogue States:
Iraq as a Case History
The Middle East & the Arabs
Islamism & Jihadism -- The Threat of Radical Islam
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
War & Peace in the Real World
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
U.S. National Security Strategy
Alan Caruba is a veteran business and science writer, a Public Relations Counselor, Communications Director of the American Policy Center, and Founder of the National Anxiety Center, a clearinghouse for information about media-driven scare campaigns. Caruba writes a weekly column, "Warning Signs," posted on the Internet website of the National Anxiety Center (www.anxietycenter.com). He is the author of A POCKET GUIDE TO MILITANT ISLAM and THE UNITED NATIONS VS. THE UNITED STATES, both available from the National Anxiety Center, 9 Brookside Road, Maple- wood, New Jersey, 07040.
Copyright 2003 Alan Caruba
Published with Permission of Alan Caruba
ACaruba@AOL.Com
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Conservative & Free-Market Analysis of Government, Politics & Public Policy, Covering Political, Legal, Constitutional, Economic,
Cultural, Military, International, Strategic, & Geopolitical Issues
Conservative Government Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity