Posted on 12/21/2004 6:29:59 AM PST by OESY
Here we go again. With the start of the Iraqi campaign season, doomsters are back with predictions of disaster for the newly liberated nation.
Some claim the election could be a prelude to civil war. Others warn that the nation's Shiite majority might, in a moment of madness, choose an Iranian-style theocracy. Still others point to the Kurdish show of disaffection as a sign the multi-ethnic country may well be heading for disintegration, and that the coming elections could speed up the process.
Yet most doomsters are the same people who opposed first the liberation of Iraq, and then the holding of free elections. What is the evidence for all their warnings and demands that Iraqi elections be postponed (presumably forever)?
Some pretend to be alarmed by the "excessive language" used by rival Iraqi politicians in campaign speeches....
By most campaign standards, this is a rather mild polemical exchange....
What is happening in Iraq is what happens in every democracy: Political rivals attack each other verbally — but, in contrast to most other Arab states, do not imprison or murder their opponents.
Other doomsters predict a straight win for the Shiites and see such an outcome as a disaster for Iraq and for U.S. policy. But why should anyone be scared of Shiites wining a majority of the seats?....
Shiites enter the election with three major competing lists of candidates. While all agree that Iraq must become a pluralist democracy, they represent different political sensibilities and are marked by the regional and tribal identities of their leading members.
One list, led by interim Prime Minister Ayad Al-Allawi, draws support from urban areas, especially Baghdad, and among civil servants, business people and senior tribal leaders. This group envisages a special relationship with the United States and Coalition allies....
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Iraqi democracy bump! This is the country's first free elections and will mark a milestone in the Arab World and the greater Middle East. One should expect there to be some rough sailing ahead... but the doomsayers and negativists are wrong. Freedom is a powerful thing and not to be denied.
Follow the link to an excellent, and very promising, article!If the writer is correct, the election will be hugh.
Hugh indeed. It will also be potentially series for our Sunni friends. I'm rather looking forward to seeing what a Shia-dominated Iraqi government has in store for the "Sunni Triangle".
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