Iraqi prime minister says U.S. troops can leave any time

While running errands yesterday, I accidentally caught a portion of The President's speech about the state of The Surge in Iraq. I agreed with his assessment that a pullout of troops now would lead to a humanitarian disaster. However, I see this as nearly unavoidable in any circumstance.

We contributed to the mess in Iraq. Yes, we toppled a totalitarian regime. However, we did not take into account the festering sectarianism that was being kept in check by that regime. Sadly, one group was mercilessly ruling the others. Then again, there are at least a dozen other countries on the planet living under similar circumstance.

We have tried to remake the country in an image of our choosing. The Iraqi's, including the government we helped to put into power, are frustrated with us. The prime minister recently remarked that U.S. troops can leave anytime they want.

My favorite, and most telling, quote on how the Iraqi's feel about us comes from Shiite lawmaker Hassan al-Suneid, "the situation looks as if it is an experiment in an American laboratory [judging] whether we succeed or fail."

Do I feel like I have the answers to this mess? NO! Do I feel for the Iraqi people? Yes. Do I think Al Qaeda has a leg up in Iraq? Yes. Do I think we have a chance at eliminating that edge by staying in Iraq several more years? NO!

While I think we could make some progress in eliminating some Al Qaeda cells in Iraq over the next six months, I think that staying much beyond that will be counter productive both to the Iraqi government and to us. If the Iraqi government cannot stand on it's own by this time next year, they will be seen as nothing more than a puppet of the U.S. (some already see them that way). In addition, the longer we stay, the more hated we become by the common Iraqi and by the rest of the world.

How can we claim to be proponents of freedom and democracy if we won't stand aside and let a sovereign nation run it's own affairs? If we don't think they're capable of running their own affairs, who are we to step in and say that it is our job to bolster their government for years? Is that really what democracy is about?

Here's an idea: Hold a special election in Iraq, a one question popular referendum: "Do you want U.S. troops out of your country by Summer 2009, regardless of your own government's ability to deliver democratic institutions or it's own ability to protect your safety?" Yes or No?

Ask the Iraqi people what they want. Let democracy decide. If we don't support that, then we don't support democracy.

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UPDATE: The Iraqi prime minister's office now says his remarks were misconstrued. Sure they were. And I'm sure that no one from our Administration visited him or (diplomatically) threatened him in any way either. Geesh.