The videotape of three hostages, including Kenneth Bigley, a British citizen, has made more stark still the challenge of establishing democracy in Iraq. The likes of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian with strong links to al-Qaeda whose group is apparently responsible for this crime, are exceptionally ruthless. Their faith is not Islam but macho medievalism. Tony Blair and Iyad Allawi, the interim Prime Minister of Iraq, were unable to say much publicly to reassure Mr Bigley’s traumatised family. In truth, it will take a lucky break, rather than any sudden change of heart among the kidnappers, to secure the hostages’ safety. It can only be hoped that this good fortune will occur.
The talks between the two prime ministers and their press conference concentrated on future developments. Neither man attempted to play down the threats to security which will be encountered before Iraqis have the chance to cast their ballots next January in a free political contest for the first time. The next four months will be extremely fraught; the spate of suicide bombings aimed at Iraqis themselves (especially volunteers for the army and police who need more protection in these formative stages) and the kidnappings of foreigners may intensify before they can be controlled. Iraq has become, as Mr Blair put it yesterday, the “crucible of global terrorism”. If terror is defeated there, this would be a victory with implications well beyond Iraq’s borders.
It is for this reason that, as Dr Allawi asserts, the United Nations and the international community need to become more involved in Iraq, rather than steering clear. The UN Security Council has offered firm approval of the provisional administrative arrangements in Baghdad and endorsed the two rounds of elections scheduled for January and then December next year. Those words will not mean much if the UN does not now do everything in its power to assist the democratic process. To that end, Kofi Annan has not made matters easier by raking over the past with his highly debatable and essentially irrelevant comments about the legality of the intervention. He and the Security Council must concentrate on the circumstances at hand, not revisit the divisions of the past.
The objective of the terrorists is clear. They wish to make elections impossible and see this as as the first stage in making Iraq ungovernable. If that could be achieved, then not only would the United States and Britain be humiliated in the Middle East, but the prospect of democracy spreading rapidly through that region would be much reduced. Dr Allawi dealt with this squarely yesterday, restating his determination that the timetable for elections would not be altered. In this he received unqualified support from Mr Blair.
It cannot be emphasised strongly enough how right he is to be so resolute. Arduous though the task will be, it should not be impossible to create flexible arrangements so that the popular will can be expressed. In the last ballot held under the Baathists, it was announced that exactly 100 per cent of the electorate had participated and every single citizen had expressed approval of Saddam Hussein.
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The forthcoming contests will not only be an enormous improvement on that farcical exercise, but will expose how little backing there is both for the old regime and for those who would overthrow the new one.