Iraq's Problems Need Iraqi Solutions

It is hard to disagree with the claim by Samir Sumaida'ie, Iraq's ambassador to the United States, that this country -- or at least the neoconservatives in the Bush administration -- is responsible for the mess that is Iraq. However, it is rather cheeky of the ambassador to tell the American people that we must "stay the course" until a real democracy is born in Iraq and, apparently, U.S. forces can teach the Kurds, the Shiites and the Sunnis to get along ["A Call to Support Democracy," op-ed, Aug 21].

The American people have spent hundreds of billions of dollars on Iraq and will continue to do so until at least the next presidential election. The United States spearheaded the donors' conference and the forgiveness of huge amounts of Iraqi debt, and Americans have tried to repair the Iraqi infrastructure.

By and large, it is the Iraqi people who have provided the major stumbling block. If the ambassador wants militias disarmed, the Iraqi people need to step up to do so. If the ambassador wants the Iraqis to be mobilized against extremists, then the Iraqi people need to find motivation and start taking care of their own problems. The religious and ethnic problems of Iraq existed before the occupation, in some cases for hundreds of years -- and that is something that the U.S. military and the neocons cannot fix.
WaPO