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Hi everyone,
You've heard a lot of rhetoric on the news about Iraq and many are calling for the immediate withdrawal of all foreign troops from the region. The following message from Iraq's Foreign minister should make us all think.
Thanks go to Neil Reinhardt, former ALP member, who forwarded it to me.
DON'T ABANDON US!
By Hoshyar Zebari
Iraq's Foreign Minister
Friday, May 4, 2007
Last weekend a traffic jam several miles long snaked out of the Mansour
district in western Baghdad. The delay stemmed not from a car bomb
closing the road but from a queue to enter the city's central amusement
park. The line became so long some families left their cars and walked
to enjoy picnics, fairground rides and soccer, the Iraqi national
obsession.
Across the city, restaurants are slowly filling and shops are reopening.
The streets are busy. Iraqis are not cowering indoors. The appalling
death tolls from suicide attacks are often high because of crowding at
markets. These days you are as likely to hear complaints about traffic
congestion as about the security situation.
All across Baghdad there is a cacophony of sirens from ambulances,
firefighters and police providing public services. You cannot even
escape the curse of traffic wardens ticketing illegally parked cars.
These small but significant snippets of normality are overshadowed by
acts of gross violence, which fuel the opinion of some that Iraq is in a
downward spiral.
The Iraqi people are indeed suffering tremendous hardships and making
grave sacrifices -- still, daily life goes on for 7 million Baghdadis
struggling to take back their capital and country.
Today, at an international summit on the future of Iraq in Sharm
el-Sheikh, Egypt, my government will ask the international community to
maintain its engagement in our country to help us achieve our goals of
security and stability. We recognize our request conflicts with a
plethora of voices decrying the situation in Iraq and those in the
British and American publics who seek an expeditious withdrawal from a
war they claim is all but lost.
So why should the world remain engaged in Iraq?
There is no denying the difficulties Iraq faces, and no amount of good
news can obscure the demons of terrorism and sectarianism which have
risen in my country. Yet there is too much at stake to risk failure, and
everything to gain by helping us protect our hard-won democratic
achievements and emerge
as a stable, self-sustaining country.
We remain determined in spite of our losses. While spectacular attacks
may dominate foreign headlines, they cannot change the reality that Iraq
has made steady political, economic and social progress over the past
four years.
We continue to strengthen our nascent democratic institutions, pursue
national reconciliation and expand Iraqi security forces. The Baghdad
security plan was conceived to give us breathing space to expedite our
political and economic development by "securing and holding"
neighborhoods across the capital.
While there is no quick fix, there have been real results: Winning
public confidence has led to a spike in intelligence, a disruption of
terrorist networks and the capture of key leaders, as well as the
discovery of weapons caches.
In Anbar province, Sunni sheikhs and insurgents have turned against
al-Qaeda and to the side of Iraqi security forces. This would have been
unthinkable even six months ago.
Contrary to popular belief, most of our government ministries are
located outside the Green Zone, and employees drive to work every day
despite death threats and attacks on colleagues and families. We
government ministers are always at risk of assassination.
When a suicide bomber attacked un in our parliament last month, the
legislators sat in defiance in an extraordinary session the following
day. I am particularly inspired by the commitment of the young diplomats
in the Foreign Ministry, a diverse mix of Sunni, Shiite, Christian, Arab
and Kurdish men and women who serve their country without subscribing to
religious or sectarian divisions.
Iraqis are standing up every day, and we persevere because there is no
other option. We will not surrender our country to terrorists. They have
failed to cripple the elected government, and they have failed to
intimidate us into submission.
Iraqis reject their vision of a future whose hallmarks are bloodshed and
hatred.
While those calling for withdrawal may think it is the least painful
option, the truth is its benefits would be short-lived. The fate of the
region and the world is linked with ours. Leaving a broken Iraq in the
Middle East would offer international terrorism a haven and ensure a
legacy of chaos for future generations.
Furthermore, the sacrifices of all the young men and women who stood up
here would have been in vain.
We Iraqis, for all our determination and courage, cannot succeed alone.
We need a healthy and supportive regional environment. We will not allow
our country to be a battleground for settling scores in regional and
international conflicts which adversely affect stability inside our
borders.
Only with continued international commitment and deeper engagement from
our neighbors can we establish a stable democratic, federal and united
Iraq.
The world should not abandon us.
*************************************
When you hear politicians and peace activists calling for the immediate withdrawal of foreign troops, think about this letter from inside Iraq. If you really want peace, support the efforts of both the foreign troops in Iraq and the Iraqi leaders who are trying to hard to bring stability and peace to the region.
A withdrawal now will most likely be the catalyst for all-out civil war and possible incursions from other countries in the region, as well.
This could be YOUR country and YOU could be the one trying to enjoy a nice day at the fair, all the while wondering if today is the day YOUR family will meet up with a suicide bomber en route.
God bless,
Dave
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