A Saddamless Iraq

A Saddamless Iraq

An essay by Terry Bohannon
Published in The Collegian, February 12, 2003

As America prepares for war with Iraq, the Bush administration must truly consider what must be done to secure Iraq as an ally after the war. With Saddam, his family and his strongest aides gone, as cruel and oppressive as they have been, there will be a void in the country. And regardless of America's action after the war, this is a void that will be filled: either with an oppressive tyrant controlling the whole country, warlords controlling as much as they can, or by a government that has strong and stable diplomatic ties to the United States.

America has filled and attempted to fill voids like this in the past. And, because of its success as a nation, America has had an impulse to create democracies, social and economic systems modeled after its. However, many of the democracies that try to form become corrupt -- as with the Philippines where in 1898, we failed at democratizing the country. Instead of having a democracy, the Filipinos fell under the whips of harsh dictators for many years -- as had been the case when they were ruled by Spain. This is something that we don't want to happen to the Iraqis.

America has succeeded in filling voids before, and will succeed again, but democratizing Iraq will not work. To look at why this won't work in Iraq, the Bush administration should look at Japan as an example that did. After Japan's surrender on Sept. 2, 1945, General MacArthur and American Allies molded Japan, and jointly created the roots of the country's political and economic system that is seen today.

In contrasting the situation of Japan to Iraq, the Bush administration should consider the following: Japan's involvement in the war started and ended at Emperor Hirohito's command. And, when Emperor Hirohito was used in the new government, his influence over the Japanese solidly secured public support of the new government.

In Iraq, America will face a different problem. There, the Iraqi citizens will not be easily molded, and a democracy will not be formed unless America is willing to spend a lot of time, money, and effort towards the task. What also makes this democratization process difficult is the democratic values themselves.

Historically, across the Islamic world, democracy has been shunned; and there's no indication that it will now be accepted. There is a historical, cultural, and even a theological mindset against democracy in the Middle East. For America to have leeway into Iraq's culture and society, to mold the new government in its own image, it will likely take a few generations of solid education and support to counter the years of anti-Americanism and the generations lived without democracy.

Hopefully, President Bush and his advisers will find the way to best secure a Saddamless Iraq as an ally. If Iraq becomes a solid democracy without corruption, we must give kudos to the Bush administration because the method he uses will greatly affect the Middle East.