Benedict XVI on Iraq

Benedict XVI's Easter Sunday remarks in St Peter Square hit a low point, I would think. He said that "nothing positive comes from Iraq." This is a very skewed report on the realities on the ground. But it might mean that the message the Pope wanted to convey is that of the American Left: "Whatever the good or the bad achievements, it is time to get out." In other words, not an accurate description, but a prescription for the near future.

Among things that are not positive:

• Even as he was speaking, an immense protest meeting among Iraqi Shiites was taking shape in the holy city of Najaf. Here were TWO positive things taking place in Iraq on account of the deposing of Saddam Hussein. First, the Shiite holy cities are free and open for feast days, festivals, and pilgrimages from all over, as they were not under Saddam. Second, this particular protest, against the Americans and in favor of Iraqi nationalism, was also free, peaceful, and not only unopposed by Coalition forces but protected and assisted by them.

• In addition, there are 200 or so free newspapers and magazines in Iraq now that did not used to be there in the time of Saddam. There are many hundreds of private, nongovernmental organizations and associations of all sorts. In short, civil society is coming back to life, slowly but surely.

• A constitutional government is in place, and three major elections have been successfully and bravely held.

• True enough, Al Qaeda and other foreign terrorists have been trying to foment, ever since the bombing of the holy and ancient mosque in Samarra in early 2006, a vicious cycle of violence between Sunnis and Shiites. That violence is by far where most of the civilian deaths in Iraq have been coming from since at least 2004.

• Under Saddam, scholars say there were between 75-125 murders of civilians every day. Bad as the murders are now under sectarian vengeance, the numbers of dead every day rarely reach that total, and most days are considerably below it.

And pulling out is not free of cost, either:

Most important of all, perhaps, from a practical point of view today, if the Americans left Iraq in the next six months, who would expect the vengeance killings in Iraq to become less frequent? Most observers on all sides predict a furious bloodbath if the Americans leave too early.