Belmont Club has a decent commentary on the voting.
The Anti-War Blog has an entry calling it the Worst Possible Outcome. They quote several sources that discuss how the tight race in several provinces will likely cause major problems due to the Sunni's seeing the votes as fraudulent. I'm thinking they have a point, but this was expected.
QandO has a quote from a Fareed Zakaria article by Zalmay Khalilzad (the US ambassador to Iraq) on why the vote appears to have swung to approval in some Sunni areas.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Khalilizad is right and that things level out instead of escalating.
QandO has a quote from a Fareed Zakaria article by Zalmay Khalilzad (the US ambassador to Iraq) on why the vote appears to have swung to approval in some Sunni areas.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Khalilizad is right and that things level out instead of escalating.
2 comments:
Doom and gloom, blah, blah, blah.
I just don't buy it. In Iraq we have a collection of people who have been held down under the heavy boot of despotism for a very long time. Now, they are suddenly given the chance to influence their own government with relative safety and security. Who thought that this process would be pretty, in terms of politics?
Look at our own system, is it pretty? I think not. One of the most often heard complains in America (with respect to politics) is that it's a dirty, ugly business. Why would anyone expect things to be all sugar and spice in a place like Iraq that includes at least three groups with major differences of opinion on a great many topics? I see the messiness of the political process over there as absolutely beautiful. They are taking the faltering steps of self-governing toddlers. They are sure to fall down and bang their nose on the floor a few times before they get the hang of it. Our role is not to make sure they never fall, but only to ensure they don't take a fatal tumble down the stairs or out the window before they learn to walk and run.
Time will tell, but I for one will remain optimistic and not let the lefties, with multiple axes to grind, get me down.
I agree with you Tom, though, I'd prefer to fault to the slightly pessimistic. Can't be disappointed if things go wrong when you think they will anyway. Not that I'm going to get into a twist over any of this in any case.
The messiness of America doesn't have the problem of breaking out into sectarian violence or civil war. (well, at least not in the past 140 years in any case.) The Sunnis were the sect in favor for about 50 years and they are having issues with having to play fair with the other ethnic/religious groups. Messiness is fine, just as long as neighbors don't begin murdering each other.
Overall, I think the Anti-War movement wants this all to be seen as a disaster, irrespective of whether the journey to democracy moves forward. Sometimes the tree of freedom really must be fed on the blood of the patriot. (Ok I mutilated the quote, "The tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of Patriots and Tyrants." -Thomas Jefferson
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