Al Alusi, consoled by American soldiers after his sons were killed in 2005
We have on various occasions demanded fair treatment of Mithal al Alusi, the brave Iraqi member of Parliament who has traveled twice to Israel to discuss terrorism issues. Doing so caused him the loss of friends, party membership (he had to create a new party) and official security protection. It may have cost him the lives of his two sons who were killed in a terrorist ambush that was aimed at him. It also has encumbered him twice with threats of prosecution in the courts. Had he been sent to an Iraqi prison he probably could not have survived long.
Happily, the latest assault on his official standing and freedom was taken to the supreme court--and Mr. Al Alusi has been completely vindicated. Moreover, without anyone much seeming to notice, Iraqis are now free to go to Israel or any other country. That is highly unusual in the Middle East and sets the stage for any number of future peaceful exchanges and other diplomatic initiatives. The politicians could not establish that right, but the constitution they adopted a couple of years ago did. In any case, that is what the Iraqi supreme court has ruled.
Tom Friedman uses the Al Alusi case as an illustration of the transformed Iraq that is being handed to the incoming Obama Administration. It is a good piece, although Friedman is so partisan that he cannot bear to give President Bush any credit for the changed situation. No thanks to Friedman or The New York Times that employs him, Iraq really may be a major victory for freedom in the seething Middle East.
A more dispassionate pundit would admit that Bush was instrumental in that victory.
