REFERENCES:

(2) ìThe Iranian Hand,î by Michael Ledeen, Wall Street Journal, 16 April, p. A14.

(3) ìGreen Zone Start-Ups,î by Michael Broadhurst et. al, Wall Street Journal, 16 April, p. C4.

I say this time and time again about our attempt to reconnect Iraqi society to the larger world: this occupation pits us against all the regionís forces of disconnectedness.

The ìIranian handî in question is the strong connectivity between Moqtada al-Sadrís incipient intifada and Iranís mullahs, who are clearly hell-bent on making sure Iraq is not ìlostî to globalizationís creeping embrace. No, this is not just the paranoid ramblings of American neocons, but good intell from the Italian Intelligence Service, which has determined that what we face in southern Iraq is not just a domestic insurgency, but a systematic effort by Saddam loyalists with connectivity to Syria and Shiite radicals with connectivity to Iran.

Is this surprising? If the U.S. has been planning Saddamís downfall openly since 1991, should we be surprised that authoritarian regimes in the region likewise prepared to defeat any US-led level to remove Iraq from the ranks of the disconnected states? A free and open Iraq would put far greater pressure on both Iran and Syria to change than any UN-led sanctions, so in many ways, these regimes are fighting for their very lives when they support anti-coalition uprisings in Iraq. As I say in my upcoming (June) article for Esquire, the peace we wage today in Iraq is a battle for the entire soul of the region.

But even as all this conflict flares, on the ground we see the seeds of much connectivity sprouting. The great WSJ article on start-ups inside the Green Zone, or protected area in Baghdad, speaks to the natural desire of individual Iraqis to run their own livesófirst and foremostóeconomically. Yes, the political freedom to run their own lives is greatly desired as well, but itís the economic freedom that dominates anyoneís dayówhether they live in Baghdad or Boston.

As one returning sergeant remarks in the article: ìAll you have to do it walk through the Karadah district of Baghdad that looks like Times Square nowî to realize that ordinary Iraqis are desperately eager to set up shopówhatever the commodity. Why so? Under Saddam, the ruling Baath party basically controlled the sale of all raw goods, meaning all the economic connectivity in the country was verticalóor from the leaders to the led. Now weíre seeing the blossoming of horizontal connectivity, or what we might call peer-to-peer, and thatís where serious freedom begins.

Itís that sort of horizontal connectivity that authoritarian governments intrinsically fear, because when it becomes widespread, the ability to control the masses through the economy disappears. Thus, right now in Iraq, it is a battle of control from above (and outside) versus freedom from below. What U.S. troops in Iraq are really providing is bodyguard duties for the connectivity we hope will spread from below and render illusory Iranís and Syriaís dreams that Iraq can be kept isolated from the outside world.