Reconciliation: Praising Juan Cole

Posted By Grim

I often praise the work of David Kilcullen, so the last post from me is probably no surprise to anyone.  On the other hand, I don't think I've ever befored praised the work of Juan Cole -- but I shall do so today.  His defense of Prime Minister Maliki in Salon today is the best thing I have ever seen from him.

Maliki has been unafraid to mount his own defense against his American critics. On Sunday, he slammed Sens. Carl Levin and Hillary Clinton for calling for the Iraqi parliament to oust him. He accused the senators of acting as if Iraq were "the feudal estate of this person or that," a metaphor that went over the head of most American observers. Modern Iraqi political parties such as the Islamic Call were formed in part as a reaction against the landlord class that dominated Iraq under the British-installed monarchy. Maliki was saying the senators were bringing back colonialism and disregarding the Iraqi political process. "They are Democrats," he quipped of Clinton and Levin, "so they should respect democracy and its results."

There are things in the piece to disagree with, but there is also quite a bit there that is valuable and insightful.  The general idea is correct:  the Iraqi government is far from perfect, but is operating under tremendous strains and difficult conditions.  It is important to build Iraqi trust in the process by respecting it, and being seen to respect it:  attempting to play puppeteer undermines what we seek to accomplish in the long term.

Meanwhile, the reconciliation package that Maliki is pushing offers some genuine reasons for hope -- if he can actually enact it at the parliament, which is far from certain.  Cole offers a good explanation both of what the package contains and why it is important, as well as why it may still face difficulties in coming about.

Reconciliation is difficult, for the Iraqis and for us.  Perhaps for us, it can start with recognizing good work from people we've disagreed with vehemently in the past.  This is a piece of good work of that kind:  though we may disagree with parts of it, it makes for informative reading. 

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Reconciliation: Praising Juan Cole

I often praise the work of David Kilcullen, so the last post from me is probably no surprise to anyone.  On the other hand, I don't think I've ever befored praised the work of Juan Cole -- but I shall do so today.  His defense of Prime Minister Maliki in Salon today is the best thing I have ever seen from him.

Maliki has been unafraid to mount his own defense against his American critics. On Sunday, he slammed Sens. Carl Levin and Hillary Clinton for calling for the Iraqi parliament to oust him. He accused the senators of acting as if Iraq were "the feudal estate of this person or that," a metaphor that went over the head of most American observers. Modern Iraqi political parties such as the Islamic Call were formed in part as a reaction against the landlord class that dominated Iraq under the British-installed monarchy. Maliki was saying the senators were bringing back colonialism and disregarding the Iraqi political process. "They are Democrats," he quipped of Clinton and Levin, "so they should respect democracy and its results."

There are things in the piece to disagree with, but there is also quite a bit there that is valuable and insightful.  The general idea is correct:  the Iraqi government is far from perfect, but is operating under tremendous strains and difficult conditions.  It is important to build Iraqi trust in the process by respecting it, and being seen to respect it:  attempting to play puppeteer undermines what we seek to accomplish in the long term.

Meanwhile, the reconciliation package that Maliki is pushing offers some genuine reasons for hope -- if he can actually enact it at the parliament, which is far from certain.  Cole offers a good explanation both of what the package contains and why it is important, as well as why it may still face difficulties in coming about.

Reconciliation is difficult, for the Iraqis and for us.  Perhaps for us, it can start with recognizing good work from people we've disagreed with vehemently in the past.  This is a piece of good work of that kind:  though we may disagree with parts of it, it makes for informative reading. 

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