With Iraqi frustration growing over the timetable being used to form a cohesive and effective Iraqi sovereignty a question must be asked. Are the coalition forces led by L. Paul Bremer occupying forces meant to remain in Baghdad to coerce any Iraqi government into an a pro-American way of thinking or are they stabilization forces caught in the middle of a people so divided in their own cause that their extraction would be leaving Iraq in a more lawless state than it was before?

The front-runners who have established themselves in the Iraqi power struggle have their good points and their notable bad points.

Ahmad Chalabi, an Iraqi exile and leader of the Iraqi National Congress had the initial support of the Bush Administration. He had the backing of an enormous number of exiled Iraqi nationals as the moment came that Saddam Hussein’s regime would be toppled. But as he got involved in the initial restructuring process reports surfaced that he had some skeletons in his closet with regard to monetary dealings within the Middle East. The last thing the Iraqi people need is to have a new leader who is branded untrustworthy by the regions’ established leaders. The credibility of the entire effort would be called into question and linked to the trustworthiness of Mr. Chalabi. This could very well be a gamble that could leave the effort in ruin and bring extremism back into the political picture.

The Kurdish leaders throughout the country and especially in the north have an agenda that would solidify their cohesiveness and elevate the stature of their people above that of all others in the new nation. Their unstable relationship with the Turks to the north could cause great anxiety within the region and lend to destabilization of the democracy that the Turks have in place.

Iranian extremists heavily back the Islamic clerics. Shiites demanding a religious run government only paint a picture of an extremist agenda that would in effect move the modernization process backwards instead of forward. If any region in the world requires modernization it is the Middle East. In a land where women are treated as second-class citizens and stoning is still an acceptable method of punishment there can be no argument that modernization is needed.

When one looks at the cast of characters it is easy to see why the coalition forces are scratching their heads and saying, "Perhaps we should stay awhile.”

The responsibility and the urgency to present respectable and effective leadership for the new Iraq is not the responsibility of the United States, Britain or the United Nations. It is the responsibility of the Iraqi people. The United Nations gave the coalition forces the authority to stay in Iraq and control the process until such time as the Iraqis pulled their heads out of their behinds, stop protesting every time some second rate cleric chants anti-American slogans and put forth a feasible process for constructing a government that won’t fall under the rule of the religious zealots in the region in less than a year.

As the Islamic clerics weigh the effectiveness of organizing protests to employ public sentiment to pressure the coalition leadership into haphazardly relinquishing power perhaps they would be better off if they used their organizational talents to construct a cohesive, inclusive government and/or find a leader who isn’t so religiously fanatical in his religious leadership. That would go a long way to asserting the idea that another Ayatollah wouldn’t rule with the oppressive brutality as we have seen demonstrated in Iran over the decades.

Perhaps if Ahmad Chalabi would use his lobbying efforts to form a conference of regional leaders that truly resembled the commoners of Iraq it would get a lot more mileage than setting up shop in one of the more elitist locations in Baghdad waiting for his coronation.

The Coalition forces are there to stabilize the region so that an effective government can emerge, not to install a puppet regime, as some liberal leaning publications in this country would have you believe. But until the Iraqis take the initiative to create and employ the necessary actions that will bring about a government that is fair to all the people of Iraq the coalition forces will remain. The goat’s head is in the Iraqis court…it’s their move.

Frank Salvato is a political media consultant and the managing editor for The New Media Journal.us. He is a contributing writer for The Washington Dispatch, GOPUSA, OpinionEditorials, Men’s News Daily, Canada Free Press & AmericanDaily. His pieces are regularly featured in Townhall.com. He has appeared as a guest on The O’Reilly Factor, The Kevin Matthews Radio Show (Chicago) and The Brad Messer Radio Show (San Antonio). His pieces have been recognized by the Japan Center for Conflict Prevention and are occasionally featured in The Washington Times and The London Morning Paper as well as other national and international publications.