ebrown_p wrote:Brandon,
What would happen if Jafaari (or some other politically elected leader) get's up and says...
1) We want US troops out of Iraq by June 2006.
2) We want "peacekeepers" from Iran to help the Iraqi government keep security.
3) We want a parlimentary Islamic governemnt similar to Iran.
I am sure that many Iraqis... perhaps a majority would support this. This plan would certainly have success if Kurdish support could be bought with guarantees of autonomy. Everyone wants to screw the Sunni's, but they are a minority.
Would this be democracy-- if it was voted on by referendum?
Do you think the US should/would allow this even if it were the will of Iraqis?
The US is trying to push several things that are against the will of the Iraqi people. Doesn't pressure from an outside power go against the principles of democracy?
Today the Iraqi people choose leaders by secret ballot. In my opinion, this is a legitimate government of the people. If the duly constituted government were to issue the 3 statements in your list, I believe that we should express our opinion that it 's a bad idea, but, if that doesn't impress them, comply and leave. This is a democratically elected government, and we must respect the will of the people's elected representatives.
If, however, Iraq subsequently became a significant danger to us, then we would have the right to use force in our own defense, and it wouldn't have to be an absolutely imminent threat, just a clear threat. To give one possible example, if they asked us to leave, and we did, and subsequently Iraq (1) developed a cooperative relationship with terrorists, and (2) began developing WMD, we would be entitled to use force, if necessary, rather than sit back and let a possibly lethal threat take shape there.