a suggestion

Umm…can I just suggest that “what Iraq means for the left” is, shall we say, at the very end of a very long list of relevant questions arising from the situation there? And that it’s a lousy idea to take it as a starting point for discussion of that situation?

This isn't to say that politics doesn't matter. But saying that fact x tends to support or oppose political tendency y is different from saying I support this side whatever it does because this in turn tends to promote my self image as a decent person.

And if the issue is: what can you do to support the Iraqi left? Then one answer might be “to support their forthcoming asylum applications to the UK, should any desire to come here.” I’m serious. The emerging Islamic government don’t like secular lefties any better than the jihadis or the other insurgents. I’d say that there’s a high probability that, for instance, Iraqi Communist Party members might have to leave in a hurry. I hope that the people who went into this conflict beleiving that the US marines were effectively the militia of the ICP won't be too embarrassed to speak up, should the need arise.