I wrote of a courageous Iraqi secular democrat (I emphasize the small “d” there) a couple of times in the past. See a profile of Mithal al-Alusi in my RealClearPolitics piece as well as a reprint of a Seattle Times column about his sons who were slain in a terrorist ambush.

A number of people, greatly moved by his saga, tried to help. Arguably, he was spared being imprisoned with Baathists (for visiting Israel), a certain death sentence, due in part to this help.

Nonetheless, many in power declined to help, because they thought he was a lost cause, a quixotic democrat who would not last long in violence-drenched Iraq.

Well, they were wrong and he is back!

But not only did Alusi survive, he managed to win a seat in parliament in last December’s election, something that eluded his former ally Ahmed Chalabi, who had kicked Alusi out of the Iraqi National Congress after his trip to Israel. And suddenly, as negotiations over the shape of the next government began, Alusi’s name started to be mentioned as a contender. One Alusi enthusiast is Fadhil Merani, a powerful figure in the Kurdistan Democratic Party. “Mithal Al Alusi! He won just one seat, but he ran as an Arab nationalist democrat,” Merani told me recently at his office in the KDP redoubt of Salahuddin. His television was tuned to the Saddam trial during our interview, which might have contributed to his Alusi boosterism: “That position is seldom expressed among Arabs. He deserves to be a minister.” Even more bizarrely, a recent Los Angeles Times story quoted a spokesman from the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), one of the most powerful components of the UIA, suggesting Alusi could win UIA support for defense minister. Though SCIRI is close to Iran, the spokesman scoffed at the idea that something as trifling as Alusi’s visit to Israel should preclude him from serving in the cabinet: “Whoever has anything against this, let them also object to the Palestine Liberation Organization, which sits down with the Israelis all the time.”

If Alusi were to become defense minister, it would be a sweet vindication, not only of his enormous struggles, but also of his friends and supporters who worked tirelessly to overcome the doubts and cynicism of the powers-that-be. Sometimes, ideals are not squashed by fanaticism and so-called realpolitik. They survive and eventually thrive.

Mind you, I am not being naively optimistic here, Alusi himself stated that he “will be killed… I know that.” And indeed, considering that terrorists continue to attack him, he may yet be killed.

But while he is still alive (Inshallah!), he keeps the hope alive that there is a fourth Middle Eastern way, outside socialist dictatorships, corrupt monarchies and Islamic fanaticism.

[Cross-posted in Guns and Butter Blog]