After Sunday's successful elections, there is a new reality in Iraq. Iraq is free to determine for itself what the American presence, if any, will consist of going forward. The United States toppled the Iraqi dictatorship, for which the vast majority of Iraqis are grateful. The question the new Iraqi government must answer for itself is, will the continued presence of the American military provide security and political stability or will it lead to more violence and threaten the stability of the newly elected government? I believe the answer is a priori self-evident: The U.S. military is necessary to help pacify the Sunni Triangle and continue training Iraqi security forces.
Realistically, there will be a period of violence and terrorism in the coming days and weeks once the U.S. military's election day lockdown of the country is eased. The challenge is to prevent the violence from exploding into outright civil war. The question, which only Iraq can answer, is will it be easier for the new popularly elected Iraqi government to mediate among the various warring factions and avoid civil war with or without continued American military presence?
The United States cannot answer these questions for the Iraqis, and America has no interest in remaining in Iraq beyond the time the people of Iraq desire us to be there. We cannot create democracy in Iraq; we can only encourage the Iraqi people to create democratic institutions. The Iraqi people demonstrated by their courageous trek to the polls through the gauntlet of terrorism that they are up to choosing for themselves.
Regardless of the Iraqis' decision on the continued presence of American troops, we have an obligation to provide the country with ongoing economic assistance to help Iraq rebuild its infrastructure and to get its economy up and running again. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her deputy-designate, former U.S. Trade Representative Bob Zoelick, have a golden opportunity to direct U.S. attention to what comes after America's military leaves Iraq. They are in the position to concentrate on the creation of something like a 21st-century Marshall aid plan that could provide the policy framework for financial assistance, trade and investment, not only for Iraq but also the entire region, including Pakistan, Afghanistan and Palestine, to build market economies and to undergird fledging democracies, one of which was born last weekend.