Five American National Interests in Iraq

From the National Review, an essay by Joseph Morrison Skelly discussing 5 of the American national interests in Iraq and the Middle East.

(1) Renewal of Iraqi society. Quoting George Weigel, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center:

[T]he duty to build a secure peace in the aftermath of war is intuitively grasped by morally serious people.

(2) Revitalization of the Iraqi state.

[H]undreds of thousands of Iraqis — elected representatives in parliament, officials in government ministries, soldiers in the army, men, and women in the domestic security forces — have taken up the challenge to construct a new Iraqi state, one that will, over time, establish a just public order . . .

(3) Transform Iraq into an ally in the war on terrorism.

In a speech at the Naval Academy in 2005 [President Bush] said, “Advancing the cause of freedom and democracy in the Middle East begins with ensuring the success of a free Iraq…By strengthening Iraqi democracy, we will gain a partner in the cause of peace and moderation in the Muslim world, and an ally in the worldwide struggle against the terrorists.”

(4) Long-term viability of the forces of moderate Islam.

One of the primary roles of the United States and the West, [Middle Eastern scholar Daniel Pipes] believes, is to support moderate Muslims, those who embrace “a modern Islamic message, [and an] anti-Islamist message.”

(5) Commitment of the United States to complete the mission in Iraq must be unwavering — and must be seen to be unwavering by our friends and by our enemies.

Writing in Foreign Affairs in January, Lew Kuan Yew, the former prime minister of Singapore, warned that “If the United States leaves Iraq prematurely, jihadists everywhere will be emboldened to take the battle to Washington and its friends and allies. Having defeated the Russians in Afghanistan and the United States in Iraq, they will believe that they can change the world.”

Plus - national honor. Quoting James Bowman's Honor: A History:

Honor is ultimately about being true to your word, and if American words — of which there has never been any shortage — are not backed up by deeds that bespeak American seriousness, and American willingness to sacrifice as well as to preach, then Uncle Sam becomes merely ridiculous on the world stage and the safety of the nation he symbolizes is itself put in danger.