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Thursday, Sep 30, 2004

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The Kerry-Bush contest

By Sumana Brahman

The invasion of Iraq has made the world a more dangerous place for Americans. With John Kerry's leadership, America can regain respect.

BY INVADING Iraq, at a great and mounting expense to the United States, the Bush administration decided to ignore many other things: increasing instability in Afghanistan, real nuclear threats posed by North Korea and Iran, and waging an effective war on terror. In a watershed speech delivered on September 20, 2004, at the New York University, John Kerry sharply defined President George W. Bush's stark failures in Iraq, and laid out a coherent plan for building international cooperation to end the worsening insurgency and to rebuild Iraq.

As Mr. Kerry points out, the war on Iraq was a mistake — there were no weapons of mass destruction, no ties to Al-Qaeda, and Iraq posed no imminent threat to the U.S. In fact, the war in Iraq has effectively distracted from the war on terror.

As Mr. Kerry states, "Iraq was a profound diversion from that war [on terror] and the battle against our greatest enemy, Osama bin Laden, and the terrorists. Invading Iraq had created a crisis of historic proportions and, if we do not change course, there is the prospect of a war with no end in sight."

Instead of helping the war on terror, the invasion of Iraq has bolstered Osama bin Laden's terrorist objectives, and weakened American national security. There is an explosion of anti-Americanism around the world, growing numbers of Al-Qaeda recruits, and of course new opportunities for terrorism in the chaos of Iraq itself. Over 1,000 Americans and countless Iraqis have died, and hundreds of billions of capitalist dollars gone — results that would make any terrorist episode a huge success.

Mr. Kerry proposes a clear four-point plan to address the current crisis in Iraq. First, the U.S. must ensure true international involvement in efforts to rebuild Iraq's war-torn economy and infrastructure, and regain international support.

The American President should convene a summit meeting of the world's major powers and Iraq's neighbours to respond to the U.N. resolution 1546. It calls on members to help by providing troops, trainers for Iraq's security forces, a special brigade to protect the U.N. mission, more financial assistance and real debt relief.

He should offer troop contributors specific but critical roles, in training Iraqi security personnel and securing the borders. He should give other countries a stake in Iraq's future by encouraging them to help develop its oil resources and by letting them bid on contracts instead of locking them out of the reconstruction process.

Next, the training of Iraqi security forces needs to be urgently expanded, and this can be achieved in cooperation with the U.S. and NATO allies, especially those who have no troops in Iraq.

Third, reconstruction efforts need to deliver tangible benefits to the Iraqi people, drawing upon Iraqi contractors and workers instead of big corporations like Halliburton.

One year ago, the administration asked for and received $18 billion to help the Iraqis relieve the conditions that contribute to the insurgency. Today, less than $1 billion of those funds have actually been spent. The President should look at the whole reconstruction package, draw up a list of high visibility, quick impact projects, and cut through the red tape.

He should draw more upon Iraqi contractors and workers instead of big corporations like Halliburton, and he should stop paying companies under investigation for fraud or corruption. He should fire the civilians in the Pentagon for mismanagement of the reconstruction effort.

Finally, the President must take immediate, urgent steps to guarantee that the promised elections are held in Iraq next year. Credible elections are key to producing an Iraqi Government that enjoys the support of the people, and an assembly to write a Constitution that yields a viable power sharing arrangement.

The U.N. has less than 25 per cent of the staff it needs in Iraq to get the job done. The President should bring in more help from other countries. This would allow the U.S. to gradually withdraw its forces from Iraq over the next four years.

Mr. Kerry points out that on numerous occasions, President Bush failed to tell the truth to the American people about the war, and he lacks a strategy for Iraq. The invasion of Iraq has made the world a more dangerous place for America and Americans. With John Kerry's vision, integrity, and leadership, America can again become stronger at home and respected again in the world.

(The writer is Coordinator, Democrats Abroad India.)

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