The EU and US have new energy to advance our common purpose in Iraq and the Middle East, writes James C Kenny.
Iraq's January elections showed the world what the Iraqi people want: peace, stability, democracy, and self-government.
Elections in Afghanistan and in the Palestinian territories, protests by Lebanese calling for the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon, and Egypt's recent moves to institute multi-party presidential elections all indicate a growing popular desire for democracy across the Middle East. But some people cannot stand this success; instead, they want to look back, complain and protest, but not offer honest answers to tough problems.
While the road ahead remains difficult, there is much to celebrate. It is in all our interests for the purple-stained fingers of millions of Iraqi men and women to win out over the bloodstained fists of insurgents who are desperate to stop democracy, before democracy can stop them, and to solidify the democratic gains that are being made across the Arab and Islamic world.
With President Bush's successful visit to Europe, the EU, its member states and the US have new energy to advance our common purpose in Iraq and the Middle East. Unfortunately, some parties are deliberately spreading false information to advance a political agenda, even at the expense of the Iraqi people who need our help, support, and encouragement.
This false information centres around several myths. They do not stand up to scrutiny:
Myth 1 - "Let Iraqis determine their own future without interference." Before the January elections, Iraqis had been unable to do that. Saddam's brutal tyranny had oppressed Iraqis. Now, a legitimate, freely and democratically elected government deriving its powers from the consent of the governed is in Baghdad.
Iraqi and Coalition forces work together against Baathists, Jihadists, and foreign terrorist supporters who want to kill Iraq's nascent democracy and return it to tyranny.
Iraqis have no interest in a premature Coalition withdrawal that would bring back the thugs. They do want Iraq's own forces to take over the security job. That is what we should all want and what the Coalition is in fact helping to achieve.
Myth 2 - "100,000 Iraqis killed as a result of the US invasion." Patently false. Iraq Body Count, a group that is not pro-American, pro-war, or supportive of the Coalition convincingly refutes that falsehood. According the Iraq Body Count website, and as shown daily on the Irish Anti-War Movement's own website, the actual count of non-combatant civilians killed in Iraq is under 20,000, many killed by insurgents' car bombs, suicide attacks, beheadings, kidnappings, and executions.
We now know that Saddam's own policies and his corruption of the "Oil for Food" programme - not UN sanctions - killed thousands of children by denying them needed medicines and food while he could fuel his regime's security apparatus and his megalomania.
Millions more were killed in Saddam's wars against Iran and Kuwait, his slaughter of Kurds and Shias, and by ultra-repressive security forces - the full scope of the killing fields and mass graves is not yet clear. From what we already know, it is horrific enough. Saddam's overthrow has meant countless Iraqi lives saved. Standing up to the insurgents and terrorists - who target civilians as a matter of routine - is essential to prevent future deaths by another tyrannical regime.
Myth 3 - "Falluja is an assault on peaceful citizens and it killed thousands of innocents." Simply wrong. US and Iraqi forces warned civilians through leaflets and broadcasts to leave the city. The vast majority did. Terrorists hid in houses, mosques, hospitals, schools; they hid behind the civilian population; they killed civilians who tried to leave. Soldiers risked their lives to end al-Zarqawi's imposed terror on the city.
Myth 4 - "Iraq is an illegal war." Wrong. The UN Secretary General commented last September that he personally believed the war in Iraq was not in conformity with the UN Charter. That is not the institutional judgment. UN Security Council Resolutions 678, 687, and 1441 clearly mandated the use of force against Iraq. A total of 17 UN Resolutions, including 1441, detailed Iraq's obligations, its refusal to disarm, and the consequences it would suffer for noncompliance. The United States and its partners made sure that the use of force was in compliance with UN Resolutions.
Saddam Hussein's regime did not want to hear the voice of the people; it used a highly repressive police state, mass executions, poison gas, and intimidation to stay in power. There can be no question that morally, the regime's removal is better for the Iraqi people.
Myth 5 - "American soldiers are deserting and refusing to go to Iraq." Wrong again. The anti-war movement must be desperate. It invents facts; it wildly exaggerates figures - claiming 5500 American soldiers have deserted, gone into hiding, been sent to jail, or escaped to Canada to avoid military service. Only three soldiers have gone to Canada to avoid service, and one of them has Canadian citizenship. The total number of desertions is only about a half-dozen. The issue of conscientious objectors and deserters is virtually a non-issue in an all-volunteer army of over two million who serve willingly and bravely.
The people of Iraq need our help. It is vital that Europe and America pull together in common purpose.
After the January elections, the Iraqi people deserve our strong support to build a democratic government, run their own security, build a tolerant multi-ethnic state that respects the rights of women, religious and ethnic minorities, and is at peace with its neighbours.
With our help, the purple finger will win against the bloody fist.'
James C Kenny is United States ambassador to Ireland