Very Interesting
Reader comment on item: The case for 'Iraqification'

Submitted by Avraham (United States), Nov 19, 2003 at 21:00

Dr. Pipes, this is a very insightful article. However I would add that Iraqification is impossible since there are no Iraqis. What I mean is that Arabs and Muslims in general do not identify themselves at the level of the nation-state; their terms of self-identification are either at the subnational, tribal level, or at the supranational level of the Ummah. These collective communal identities are recipes for disaster, as has been shown by-among many others (including yourself)-Dr. Bernard Lewis. Allowing socalled "Iraqis" to govern Iraq's domestic future would be a big mistake, given the seemingly incessant Muslim desire for revenge and religio-nationalistic pride over socioeconomic self-sufficiency and coping with reality. As you have noted before, "Militant Islam is the problem, moderate Islam is the solution," and we need a full-scale support system for moderate Muslims-starting at the municipal level-to successfully reconstruct Iraq. I agree with you that Americans are less up to this job than Iraqis are to Usama bin Laden's job, but there is never a good reason to abandon what is right because the ...westerners are-as always-so shortsighted.

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