The building of a new Iraq
Iraq, Editorial, 7/12/2003

The US went into Iraq for reasons that it knows itself. What it told the world is that it went into Iraq to liberate it from tyranny, and to give it freedom, democracy, and prosperity. That is certainly a noble objective.

This objective rests on certain values, not the least of which is forgiveness, in order for the Iraqi society to liberate itself first from the hate that it has built in itself, between the citizens and the government, and between the different Iraqi factions themselves.

Demonstrating coexistence between Iraqis, starts with the US demonstrating what coexisting means. It means the ability to put the past behind. This would imply that the US will not segregate between one Iraqi or another, nor will it allow others to do so while it is in charge. This is demonstrated by a general and complete political amnesty, no trials of previous officials, the permitting of the Baath party and its members the same rights and privileges as others, and asking every Iraqi to pitch in to rebuild their country.

No single citizen should be held liable for the mistakes of a single and absolute ruler. A single and absolute ruler, placed Iraq in the position it is in, and no other is responsible.

But freedom means the freedom for the competition of ideas. If freedom is the goal, then a rock-solid framework towards this end needs to be crafted, to ensure that freedom does not end after the first opportunity by a committee or citizens to vote.

In the coming days, we will write a series of articles on building a new Iraq.

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