It’s time we asked our friends around the world for help in securing Iraq. Our troops can handle purely military issues. But in the difficult task of establishing law and order, we should no longer try to go it alone.
In time of crisis, the U.S. has historically made real partnerships with other nations.
America won its freedom at the Battle of Yorktown, where the French fleet cut the British supply routes. Indeed, the British first attempted to surrender to the French general Comte de Rochambeau, who led them instead to surrender to George Washington.
What we needed from a partner two centuries past was a navy. If it weren’t for the French fleet, there might not be a United States. What we need today are gendarmes.
Dozens of nations have gendarmerie, police organizations that fall somewhere between civilian and military operations. Perhaps peace in Iraq needs French gendarmes, Italian Carabinieri, or the Spanish Guardia Civil. Perhaps even the Mounties?
Perhaps Turkey’s Jandarma? Turkey is a nation that is, as Iraq was before the war, religiously Muslim and politically secular. And, a traditional strong American ally, Turkey has the kind of force needed in Iraq.
Gendarmes around the world have security training and light military weapons, including armored personnel carriers. They also have a tradition of co-operating across national borders. In Europe, the European Gendarmerie Force brings together a multi-national force capable of rapid deployment.
Other countries have a capacity that we lack for the critical task of training a competent and honest police force able to operate amidst chaos. The United States, in part because of our long tradition of keeping the military out of civil affairs, does not have a quasi-military, national police force. Our last gendarme force was the United States Constabulary, which policed occupied Germany after World War II.
American troops train for combat, not policing. American police enforce the law as civilians, not as light combat troops. In contrast, three dozen nations do maintain real gendarmes with the skills needed to establish peace in Iraq.
Why does America go it alone in Iraq?
Our public relations stance is that we lead a multi-nation “coalition” of military force. The truth is that the coalition consists of Americans, a strong handful of British troops, and mostly symbolic contributions from two dozen other nations. 90 percent of coalition troops are American. Nearly 95 percent are American or British. In addition to us, only the U.K. and South Korea have contributed more than a thousand troops to the conflict. There are almost no troops from Muslim nations in the coalition.
It’s time to ask other nations for real help and real partnership, just as we have historically done. We will need to ask wisely, as no nations will risk substantial casualties in what is seen as an American fiasco. Fortunately, we are not lacking military strength. What we need is assistance in helping the Iraqis rebuild Iraq.
The Iraqis need reliable electricity, clean water, and restoration of crude oil production. None of these are possible while sectarian violence and political corruption rule the streets. Iraq needs the rule of law.
The fact is, operating largely alone, America has traded a brutal dictatorship in Iraq for a civil war in Iraq. While we have dominating military power, our ability to win the war is not matched by a similar skill at winning the peace. If we hope to bring our men and women home while preserving national honor, we must be humble enough to ask other nations to contribute their strength and knowledge in rebuilding.
We need not ask other countries to take our side. We need to ask other countries to take the side of rebuilding Iraq for the Iraqi people.