WSJ Discovers That Democracy Is Hard

No one in Iraq is failing to “compromise” because he thinks he can count on an endless American presence. Iraqis are debating core questions of power-sharing and federalism that are the hardest issues for any democracy to settle. ~The Wall Street Journal

There’s an element of truth in this that exposes the larger fraud of the entire project.  Iraqi politicians aren’t failing to compromise because they expect us to be there forever.  They would fail to compromise regardless of whether we were there or not, since the different political factions are not interested in compromise, which is why all of the crucial legislation is stalled and why democracy in Iraq will fail horribly.  These are the hardest issues for a democracy to settle, which is why it is madness to pin our national security and our soldiers’ safety to Iraqi politicians’ abilities to pull together compromise legislation in a situation where such legislation is simply a dream.  Withdrawal should not be premised on the idea that it will facilitate Iraqi political compromise, because that isn’t going to happen (at least not for many, many years).  Withdrawal should happen because it is the right thing to do for our soldiers and for our country.  Remaining in Iraq won’t make Iraqi political reconciliation significantly more likely, and it will cost us.  That is the situation.  Withdrawal soon–with provisions being taken to provide for the security of neighbouring countries and some efforts to provide for the refugee crisis that will be coming–is the best of the bad options.