A MODEST IRAQ PROPOSAL

A mathematics teacher has created a stir in Charleston, S.C., by proposing that Iraqis be asked to vote on whether they want U.S. military forces to leave their country or stay longer. In a brief letter to the editor of The New York Times, Herb Silverman wrote: “Since Iraq is going to have a democratic election in January, I propose that its citizens be allowed to vote on the following ballot measure: Should American combat troops leave Iraq?”

He went on: “We then follow the will of the people. I expect that the citizens of Iraq care more about this issue than about which leaders to elect. Too bad this wasn’t proposed to Vietnam after 1,000 American soldiers died there.”

Reached by telephone, Mr. Silverman said he circulated the letter among his faculty colleagues at the College of Charleston. In a group discussion, he said comment was mostly favorable, although some who opposed the war said the United States should stay long enough to fix what it had started. He reasoned Iraqis would probably vote yes. But if they voted against withdrawal, the United States would at least have their expressed support for its war policy. He said he had no idea how the proposition could be put on the Iraqi ballot but suggested that John Kerry or some other political figure might decide to propose it.

It’s not going to happen, of course. The first objection would probably ask how seriously such a vote could be taken, with daily bombings and suicide attacks against Americans and their Iraqi supporters. The same question could be raised about the validity of a vote for a constituent assembly. Neither President Bush nor Mr. Kerry would dare to risk such a vote in the heat of the American political campaign. If Mr. Kerry broached it, one can imagine the outraged charges that he was meddling in the conduct of the war and betraying U.S. troops already in constant danger.

Still, Mr. Silverman’s proposal raises a provocative question at a time when talk of American withdrawal is already in the air. Mr. Kerry promises to get the troops home within four years. Mr. Bush subtly seemed to shift his position last week on the conditions for withdrawal. He said: “Once we get these folks trained and get them on the path to stability and democracy, our troops are coming home with the honor that they earned.”

His emphasis on stability seemed to point toward a quelling of the present insurgency rather than his administration’s initial vision of transforming Iraq into a model of democracy and freedom for the entire Middle East. That vision took a blow when outraged Islamic fundamentalists murdered an American woman lawyer who had been setting up women’s rights centers and urging Iraqi wives to demand that their husbands pay them for household work. Such incidents suggest that Iraq may wind up as some sort of theocratic Islamist state rather than an American-style democracy.

As the Iraq war grinds on, and as insurgents combat what they consider a continuing American occupation, a big question is whether and how long the United States can keep its combat forces in Iraq without the clear support of the Iraqi people.