Thomas E. Petri: “I plan to vote for this resolution, but to surge or not to surge, that is the wrong question. Just saying ``no'' is…”

“I plan to vote for this resolution, but to surge or not to surge, that is the wrong question. Just saying ``no'' is simple obstructionism. What we need is a new way forward to replace the old way that is not getting us anywhere. It has become clear that trying to establish a multiethnic Iraqi democracy, while laudable, simply cannot be accomplished by non-Iraqis. The fact is, Iraq has never been a unified country with enough common interest to foster the give and take of democracy. During the First World War, Britain seized the Mesopotamian region from the collapsing Ottoman Empire. Iraq was created out of three separate provinces to keep the Turks out while allowing the British access to the local oil. Captain Arnold Wilson, the British civil commissioner in Baghdad, argued that the creation of the new state was a recipe for disaster. He warned that the deep differences among the three main communities, the Sunni, Shia and Kurds, ensured the new country could only be run by what he called the antithesis of democratic government.”