AEI's Rubin: Mistakes mustn't halt march

Mistakes mustn't halt march
By Michael Rubin
Originally published May 7, 2004

WASHINGTON - Now is not the time for the United States to withdraw from Iraq.

Stung by the damage done by revelations that American personnel abused detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan, President Bush spoke on Arab television and was unequivocal: "People in Iraq must understand that I view those practices as abhorrent." He pledged to punish the soldiers involved.

Across the Middle East, officials condemned the United States. Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi, for example, said the incident was proof that the United States had a "systematic plan to torture Iraqis, to kill them, to rape them." Syria's official daily, Ath-Thawra, called the abuse "proof" that torture is widespread in Iraq. Hundreds of Iraqis protested in front of Abu Ghraib prison, demanding the release of all prisoners. In Iran, Syria and Egypt, newspapers called for American withdrawal from Iraq.

But there could be nothing worse than a U.S. pullout.

Professors and pundits may say that the sky has fallen, but Iraqis have a broader perspective. They may forgive the actions of a few soldiers. While the American media focus on car bombs and prison abuse, in the year since liberation, Iraqis have also watched thousands of soldiers and contractors repair schools, repave roads and revitalize the electrical grid.

There's no doubt that the prison photos are devastating. But they are not a deathblow to Mr. Bush's call for a fundamental transformation of the Middle East. Iraqis respect Mr. Bush for his willingness to address them. The president has juxtaposed himself with every ruler in the Arab world.

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http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/bal-op.iraq07may07,0,7668921.story?coll=bal-pe-opinion

Which of the two, based on background and experience
is more likely to know what he is talking about and
to be motivated to speak his mind honestly?

But Mr. Rubin does not get the point in any case.
It is our posture of moral superiority, which is used
to justify all the rest of the unilateral blather, that
is demolished, both by what was occurring and by the
fact that nothing was done about it.