It is a common criticism of the pro-war crowd that all we, who opposed the war, do is criticize it and point out its shortcomings. There are very good reasons for that, not the least of which being the persistent denial about the facts in which many of the pro-war crowd persist--but it is also true that few of us offer viable alternatives for what to do /now/. None of the Democratic presidential candidates seem to have a very good vision of what to do yet, and I would argue that Bush's administration appears not to either.

So let's get down to brass tacks and work together to come up with a solution. What should our primary goals be in Iraq?

As I see it, they include:

• Representative government: it does not need to be a democracy per se, nor necessarily anything on the American model, and the Iraqi people are certain to insist on a role for Islam to a degree with which we are not comfortable. But it must be a government which represents the desires and interests of the Iraqi people first, which respects internationally-recognized norms of human rights, and which can rejoin the world community as a peaceful member free of weapons of mass destruction.


• Peace and lawful order: a functional police force which respects the rights of its citizens, protects them from harm and crime, and which offers due process for those accused of violating the law.


• The total withdrawal of all American and Coalition forces as swiftly as can be managed: despite the crowing of those who espouse the "flypaper" strategy, the greatest risk to the Iraqi people from terrorists comes precisely because Iraq is occupied by American troops. Remove the Americans, and you remove almost all of the motivation for droves of terrorists to cross the border and come blow things up. Similarly, the presence and conduct of American troops is the #1 motivating factor for Iraqis who are presently involved in insurgency operations.


• A mending of fences with the world community: put simply, ever since Bush came into office, he has been consistently snubbing the world community and sending the message that the United States is not a team player. This hurts our interests, it hurts the credibility and effectiveness of the UN, and it hurts our ability to pull strings and exert influence with a carrot instead of a stick. And in the current context, it is desperately hurting our ability to stabilize the mess that exists in Iraq.