He had told me before taking the podium that he did not wish to speak as an intercessor—a man with a half-American perspective and a half-Iraqi perspective—but rather, as a voice straight from Iraq, the country he loves and was bred from. When I told him of what one woman had told me was her reason for coming—that she wanted to see if some truth could come out of the mess in Iraq—he said, speaking in the language of politicians:
"Iraq is a complex and difficult situation. There are many facets, many angles. My objective is to give people insight and help them appreciate the complexity of this matter."
He then went on to address the anxious crowd with the diction, tone and passion of a poet. Which is to say: He was engaging, moving and more than anything else, believable.
Sumaidaie said that Iraq—the country where the wheel was invented, writing began, the idea of a constitution was born, "and if I went on with all the firsts, I would be here all week"—was a promising country before Saddam usurped power.
He said Saddam, an authentic despot, destroyed Iraq. He ruined the infrastructure, debilitated the educational system, released hardened criminals, sucked the life out of the country's art, looted the banks for more than $1.9 billion, with part of which he helped fund insurgencies, and turned Iraq into one of the world's 10 poorest countries—a land fertile for crime and chaos.
And so, Sumaidaie emphasized, the Iraqi people are eternally grateful for the removal of Saddam, and despite any anti-U.S. sentiment around the world, Iraq will be a staunch ally of the United States for many years.
However, said the ambassador, who himself has lost three cousins to the chronic violence in that region, the dangers associated with Saddam did not die with his toppling. Rather, his crew of deviants went clandestine, and their sole focus became this: "To make sure America fails, so that the power in Iraq will fall back into their laps like ripe fruit.
"Which is the reason—and this is my message to you here today—that America must follow through with its mission in Iraq," Sumaidaie said. And further: "Now is not the time to pull out. America must stick with it until it is completed, or Iraq will delve into chaos."
He said the new system and leaders in Iraq—which show great promise, as evinced by the 70 percent voter turnout in the last election—are not yet strong enough to stand on their own, let alone fend off attacks from those who want to revert to the old ways.
His Excellency told the gathering that Iraq will be a united, peaceful country—something it has always longed for—in five years if America remains committed. The progress is visible, he said, and Iraqis across the world are proud of the country's new constitution, its new Bill of Rights, and its new rights for women.
According to Sumaidaie, he has had several debates with Democrats who support massive withdrawal of U.S. troops in Iraq, and he is convinced that they will be more flexible after election season. I had asked him about this before he took the podium, and just after he arrived at the small meeting room in the Four Seasons Hotel, and he said:
"In America, the media is a big thing. People form their opinions for debate based on the images and reports they see on television, but no one stops to ask the Iraqi people what they want. Because the truth is that the Iraqi people do not see America as occupiers, but rather, as liberators."