Saturday, March 07, 2009
Healing Iraq
Even after it had become evident that the Petraeus strategy (known colloquially as "the surge") had put the United States and its coalition on the road to victory against the insurgency in Iraq, Democratic leaders declared it a "failure" because there had not been political "reconciliation."
Now, if not before, check that box, too.
Sunni Arab residents welcomed more than 1 million Shiite pilgrims to the city of Samarra on Friday to mark the anniversary of a Shiite saint's death, local officials said, the latest sign of reconciliation among Iraqis eager to put the country's civil war behind them...
The calm was a remarkable feat in a city where Sunni militants three years earlier had bombed the Golden Mosque and ignited the civil war between the sects that left tens of thousands dead. A Sunni mosque even hosted Shiite pilgrims for a prayer service to commemorate the death in 874 of Imam Hasan Askari.
"This pilgrimage has exceeded all expectations," said Samarra Mayor Mahmoud Khalaf, who estimated there were more than 1 million visitors in the mostly Sunni city. "It serves the unity of Iraq."
If Iraq can stay on this path as America draws down and departs, it will have been a remarkable achievement. People will argue about the costs and consequences for at least a generation, but that argument cannot alter the fact of the transformation, painful as it was, from the brutal era of the Ba'athists. It can only declare that it was not worth it.
4 Comments:
By 
Psota, at
Sat Mar 07, 12:05:00 PM:
Obama is damned lucky that W took care of business in Iraq (if not on Wall Street). That Obama and his supporters can't seem to admit this is pretty galling
By SR, at
Sat Mar 07, 01:22:00 PM:
They never will. The consolation is that W never seemed to be concerned about who got the credit.
Remind you of anyone?
By joated, at
Sat Mar 07, 01:23:00 PM:
Let's see...one million pilgrims visit the city...many needing to purchase food, drink, etc.
I can see where it could be peaceful and Samarra would welcome them...now that they've seen the error of their ways through the fine tutelage of American Marines and such.
By Noocyte, at
Sat Mar 07, 11:45:00 PM:
This is an absolutely stunning development! It does indeed speak to a very deep and authentic reconciliation in what, not that long ago, would have seemed the very unlikeliest of places. More than this, it is a spectacular vindication of the effects of an intelligently run COIN campaign; the security and stability which enable events like these to occur are the very essence of what counterinsurgency aims to instill in the host nation.
Couple this with the unexpectedly heartening article on Afghanistan by Max Boot which you linked yesterday, and it is yet another reminder of what can happen when the business of geopolitics rest in the hands of grown-ups (albeit imperfect ones).
It is a thing most fervently to be hoped that the current POTUS does not leave the fruits of his predecessor's labors to rot; they do tend to attract the very worst sorts of pests.
