Far from racing ahead of the democratic curve and imposing "illegitimate" policies, as Madrick contends, the CPA is being far too timid and trying to avoid making unavoidable choices. We already made the two most fundamental decisions: We will leave the Iraqi people with a democratic republic of some kind; it is up to them to keep it after we leave. And we will leave them a rudimentary free-market capitalist economic system; it is up to them to make it prosper after we are gone.
Having made these decisions, making no further decisions on fundamental economic and political questions in Iraq is not an option. Our challenge is to leave the Iraqi people a working political mechanism through which they can ratify or alter the choices we make as their trustee and guardian during the phase of reconstructive surgery.
For example, we cannot avoid choosing how we will reconstitute the Iraqi oil industry, either as a state-owned enterprise or as a privately owned and operated industry of myriad private joint stock companies. Nothing would launch free-market capitalism faster or more tightly knit together this ethnically and religiously diverse country than giving every Iraqi citizen unencumbered property rights to Iraq's oil.
Privatization of Iraq's oil should be done immediately, not through the half-baked, voucherized auction method that failed so miserably in Russia but along the lines of the fabulously successful Homestead Act in 19th century America where clear title to 160 acres of federal land was "given" outright to citizens. It was, after all, theirs to begin with.
Done right, through a nation-wide census and property registry, the process of bestowing on every Iraqi citizen equal ownership shares in private oil-industry firms, complete with Iraqi CEOs and boards of directors, also would facilitate registering deeds of other property and systematically submitting claims of ownership of property in dispute.
Combining a nationwide census and property registry with voter registration could accelerate elections. After that, it will be possible to establish a representative federal republic based on universal elections of local councils, which in turn would elect regional assemblies, which in turn would elect a national parliament. The sovereignty of such a federal representative republic would immediately be recognized by the United Nations, and that government could write a draft constitution and submit it to the people for ratification.
After visiting the Arabian Gulf again last week I am more convinced than ever that this is the right course to take. The CPA should devote however much money is necessary to organize an immediate census and property registry to register voters, privatize oil, establish property rights and hold elections, not only to save Iraq but also to signal to the rest of the region that beyond Iraq and Afghanistan we also are committed to free-market economic development, open trade and democracy in the entire region.