We've won on the battlefield in Iraq against Baathists, al Qaeda invaders, Sunni nationalists, and Iranian sponsored Sadrists.
And we've won the debate on how to set up a democratic Iraq.
So we've achieved a lot already. Which explains why the country and the war have dropped off the radar screens of our press and domestic politics. In many ways, that's a good thing, given how badly our press covered the war.
But we have to keep paying attention to Iraq and working to entrench democracy and rule of law; and to defeat neighbors like Syria and Iran that wish to undermine democracy and exert influence over Iraq.
General Odierno is generally optimistic about the future of Iraq, while recognizing that we have to work the problems to achieve that.
He also mentions the de-Baathification issue that has raised worries recently over candidates being banned by a body suspected of too-close ties to Iran:
One of the things that's concerning to me now is in the early stages of this process, I think the story's been diverted a bit and I think it's been diverted trying to drive it more down the sectarian line which I think is unfortunate today, based on the de-Ba'athification, disqualification of some candidates.
It's not the fact that we believe there shouldn't be de-Ba'athification because we all agree there should be de-Ba'athification, but it's about is it transparent, is it going by the Rule of Law, and so what's happened is the early part of the campaign process has turned in -- has turned into mainly about de-Ba'athification and trying -- in fact, in some cases driven some people towards back to sectarian issues.
What I think we'll see, though, as we get closer to the elections, I think we'll see a drive away from that and I think we'll see it return to what are the issues of the people which goes back to do I feel secure, am I getting the services I want, do I have the job I want, how is the economic development going, and how are these political leaders representing me regionally, and I think it will go back to those issues over time.
That seems about right. De-Baathification is a legitimate goal. But there needs to be rule of law in carrying it out. Iraq will stumble as they seek a path forward. We have a role in helping them find the right path. But don't forget that we stumbled too in defining how potential enemies could participate in our government.
