Nobelprisvinner og utenriksminister for Øst-Timor, Jose Ramos-Horta, skriver et flammende innlegg om at verden ikke må svikte Iraks folk. De må få anledning til å bygge et moderne samfunn. De som trekker seg ut, lar ekstremistene få god anledning til å vinne. Det er toppen av kynisme.

No matter how the retreating governments try to spin it, every time a country pulls out of Iraq it is al Qaeda and other extremists who win. They draw the conclusion that the coalition of the willing is weak and that the more terrorist outrages, the more countries will withdraw.

Ramos-Horta har tenkt litt lenger. Han prøver å se hva som vil skje hvis ekstremistene skulle vinne i Irak, eller hvis det bryter ut full borgerkrig. Da vil Europa få hendene fulle med flyktninger, i titusenvis, for det kommer sannsynligvis ikke til å stanse med Irak. Kampen i Irak vil få avgjørende betydning for utviklingen i de andre landene i regionen:

They know that a free Iraq would fatally undermine their goal of purging all Western influence from the Muslim world, overthrowing the secular regimes in the region, and imposing Stone Age rule. They know that forcing Western countries to withdraw from Iraq would be a major step toward that goal, imperiling the existence of moderate regimes–from the Middle East to the Magreb and Southeast Asia.

If those regimes were to fall, hundreds of thousands of Muslims who today denounce the «evils» of Western imperialism would flock to Europe, the U.S., Canada and Australia, seeking refuge. As in Iran, Muslims might have to experience the reality of rule by ayatollahs before they realize how foolish they were not to oppose these religious zealots more vigorously.

Sometimes, a War Saves People
We must be willing to bring the fight to those who would do evil.
BY JOSE RAMOS-HORTA
Thursday, May 13, 2004 12:01 a.m. EDT