As U.S. forces move into former insurgent strongholds in Iraq, the local people, both Sunni and Shiite, ask our soldiers not "When are you leaving?" but "Will you stay this time?" The rise of Iran's power has frightened many Gulf Arab states so much that they now ask the same question: Will the U.S. stand by them this time?
The notion that attacks on America result from the American presence in the Muslim world is nonsensical. America and its allies have been attacked when we had troops in the Middle East and when we did not; when we intervened in regional crises and when we ignored them. But our policies over the past few decades have resulted in the worst of both worlds--we have generated whatever irritant our presence in the region creates without giving our friends (and enemies) the assurance that we will actively pursue our interests and those of our allies.
It was one thing to debate how much support to offer authoritarian regimes providing questionable support to our efforts. Refusing now to defend states trying to establish constitutional and democratic government will be quite another. The immorality of such a decision is apparent. It would also be strategic stupidity.
It is time to move beyond reflexive Bush-bashing and antiwar sloganeering and consider our real interests in the Muslim world and how to secure them. It starts by declaring that we will stand by our friends in defense of common goals and against common enemies.
I know foreign policy realists are eager to erase the memory of the last seven years, but are we really ready to throw 50 million people away who have sacrificed greatly to achieve the hope of prosperity, freedom, and peace? Will we deny a billion others the glimmer of hope that this narrow progress offers?
We had to sacrifice so much this decade precisely because foreign policy "realism" was stuck in amber as the world evolved around them into a far different place. It is folly to insist that 1990s realism has any place in this decade or the next.
We crossed that bridge into the 21st century long ago. And jihadis knocked the damn thing down with a hijacked passenger aircraft. Move on, people.
