How to liberate Iraq. (Working Lunch).(Michael Rubin of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and the American Enterprise Institute)(Interview)

Wisdom ... is social. She seeks her fellows--Thomas Jefferson

After becoming fascinated with the Middle East, Michael Rubin traveled widely and worked in the region, including a nine-month stint as a history teacher in Kurdish areas of Iraq. He became a researcher at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and then a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. TAE senior editors Eli Lehrer and Karina Rollins conducted this interview just before Mr. Rubin assumed a new job as an Iran/Iraq researcher at the Pentagon.

TAE: What do people on the street in the Middle East think of the United States?

RUBIN: When you travel in a country like Iraq, Afghanistan, or Iran, what you hear is not criticism of the United States for meddling in their internal affairs, but criticism of the United States for not meddling in their internal affairs. The majority of people who live under dictators oppose them--99.5 percent of Iraqis would be against Saddam. His regime is based solely on fear. It would collapse like a house of cards if we pushed.

That doesn't mean that the Iraqis are pro-American. They are nationalistic. But they would welcome U.S. assistance so long as it didn't become overbearing. They would like America to help liberate their country, but they don't want the U.S. to stay there for ten years.

Friendship with the United States should mean something. We should reward Turkey for standing by us for 50 years. We shouldn't reward countries like the Sudan for stopping things they should never have been doing in the first place. Just because Saudi Arabia has oil doesn't mean we should turn a blind eye to its support for terrorism. The Saudis must stop funding terrorists.

TAE: What was it like going to Iraq and Iran? How did you get in?