Iraqi Provincial Elections
By Steve Hynd Saturday Jan 24, 2009 4:02pm
Iraqi elections: Elites to fight for power and oil.
(RealNews.Net talks to Leila Fadel, McClatchy's Baghdad Bureau Chief. Dec 15)
I really hope the Iraqi provincial elections today NEXT WEEK (I misread the link) go well - free, fair and non-violent. Both the vote itself and the way it is conducted will be important indicators of the way that nation is going, whether towards reconcilliation or towards entrenched factional splits and thus eventual outbreaks of violence again. There's already a huge fly in the ointment - elections in Kurdish Iraq won't happen today because of power-sharing turf fights. That such massive security measures are required just so that "the people" can exercise their democratic voice isn't a great sign either.
A credible election without significant violence would show that the security improvements of the past 18 months are taking hold. The outcome will also show which parties stand the best chance of success in parliamentary elections expected by the end of the year.
However, a deeply flawed election, marred by violence and allegations of widespread fraud, would cast doubt over Iraq's future and could influence President Barack Obama's decision on how fast to remove the 142,000 American troops.
Obama pledged during the presidential campaign to end America's role in the unpopular war and has ordered his national security team to prepare plans for a responsible withdrawal. U.S. officials warn that a hasty pullout could threaten Iraq's fragile security.
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, says the Pentagon is closely watching the elections because their outcome "will, I think, be a big indicator for 2009, which is a big year."
U.S. and Iraqi officials have warned extremists may try to disrupt Saturday's vote and are planning heightened security, including banning vehicles on election day and closing airports and land borders. But officials expect a strong turnout — possibly more than 70 percent of the 15 million eligible voters.
We're not going to know who the "winners" are for months, as deals and coalitions come and go. A lot of those fractures in Iraqi society are going to be stressed. By the end of it all, we'll know far more about how well "we broke it, we should fix it" is going.
Login or Register to post comments.
Until the Iraqis start thinking of themselves as IRaqis first and Sunnis, Shias or Kurds second, there isn't much hope that the country won't eventually fall apart. Trying to cobble together, through the imposition of external force and fiat, a nation out of people who have hated each others guts for centuries is futile. Unless the UN want to keep a permanent presence of peace keepers/makers there, it seems inevitable that the place is going to partition along religious/ethnic lines as soon as the external force that is holding together as an artificial nation is lifted.
If this election ends up being a sham, we ought to just leave and let them get it over with.
deals and coalitions?...If Iraq had some diebold machines. it would make the elections go soooo much quicker... and "smoother" too!
I though we brought American Democracy to Iraq?
all the trillions we spent in Iraq...and we forgotta give em some diebold machines! ...talk about oversight!
that most of the sectarian violence was against those that cooperated with the invaders. They got along fine under Saddam.
That purple finger thing was seeming like just another photo op for the bush administration. I'm glad to see them trying to vote and get their country back.
U.S. and Iraqi officials have warned extremists may try to disrupt Saturday's vote
"Extremists" is the new Orwellian-speak for "Nationalists who reject colonial intervention".
Is the Iraqi sock puppet going to allow ALL Iraqis to cast their votes? Or is Nouri Al-Maliki and the US going to prevent the Sunnis from voting?
The same strategy is being used in the rest of the Middle East. Submissive and collaborative regimes are labeled "Moderates" while "Nationalist" movements are labeled "Extremists".
That way, the US and Israel can go around claiming they are fighting "extremism" and the sock puppet governments in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iraq will back them up and say the same.
Remember: Nationalism and independence are a threat to US expansionism in the Middle East. That's why the US government likes dictators who rule with an iron fist, but cooperate when called upon.
In South and Central America they're known as leftist guerillas.
OK I know it's a serious topic but her beauty is stunning.
on the Iraqis reverting to type; and I don't see that as a bad thing per se. They're cultural, and we're a melting pot. The mere notion that they would perpetually imitate the West is absurd. They condone us for the time being, and that's it.
Please elaborate.
The way your post stands right now implies that the West is somehow a model to emulate. I wouldn't go as far as calling the US a democracy to emulate, for example. At least not the disfunctional democracy that it is today
Norway is a democracy. But, the US is no democracy. It's ruled by the corporate elite.
What are you referring to when you say "cultural"? Is Turkey, the secular democracy that it is, "cultural"?
Is France "cultural"? You need to clarify your post.
By the way, on a good day, the US is more of a mixed salad.
I thought my comments stood up well enough.
No, I do not believe the U.S. model of democracy is to be emulated. It is, though, the model being promoted in Iraq, and therefore, your comment regarding European democracies is not germane.
My cultural comment was directed towards the bias of the various Iraqi sectors compared to the U.S.
Melting pot, mixed salad, two homologous metaphors.
Did that help?
Iraq is thrashed and will stay thrashed. Shall we say, similar to Vietnam.
was to bring instability to Iraq and the MidEast. It wasn't to bring democracy. The US gov't doesn't want democracy. Instability in the entire region, with US as the area's real leadership, gives US corporations all the wealth that will flow from the region. That was the plan all along. They don't care if Iraq is a democracy or looks like the US.
Login or Register to post comments.