By Jacob Laksin
It’s a depressing scene: warring political factions; a messy reconstruction plan; division amid crisis. But no matter how grim the state of affairs in the U.S. Congress, Americans can at least look with satisfaction at the political efflorescence underway in Iraq. On Saturday, Iraq held its first nationwide elections in three years. The results will not be in for several more days, but the weekend vote already has provided fresh proof of the stellar progress that Iraq has made in recent years – a once-unlikely evolution that may yet be undone by a rash withdrawal of American forces.
One of the more encouraging aspects of Iraq’s election day is just how uneventful it was. Considering that the previous election, in January 2005, was marred by a spree of terrorist violence that saw 44 people killed, 9 deadly suicide bombings, and widespread harassment and intimidation at voting stations, the deficit of headline-making news must be considered a positive step forward. Despite the massive scale of the weekend vote, in which some 14,400 candidates from 400 parties stood for the provincial election, there were no reported deaths throughout and only a few isolated incidents of violence. One Iraqi voter summed up the new atmosphere: “We were not able to vote during the 2005 elections because of the deteriorating security situation. But now we feel safe enough to go out and vote.” Read more ...
It’s a depressing scene: warring political factions; a messy reconstruction plan; division amid crisis. But no matter how grim the state of affairs in the U.S. Congress, Americans can at least look with satisfaction at the political efflorescence underway in Iraq. On Saturday, Iraq held its first nationwide elections in three years. The results will not be in for several more days, but the weekend vote already has provided fresh proof of the stellar progress that Iraq has made in recent years – a once-unlikely evolution that may yet be undone by a rash withdrawal of American forces.
One of the more encouraging aspects of Iraq’s election day is just how uneventful it was. Considering that the previous election, in January 2005, was marred by a spree of terrorist violence that saw 44 people killed, 9 deadly suicide bombings, and widespread harassment and intimidation at voting stations, the deficit of headline-making news must be considered a positive step forward. Despite the massive scale of the weekend vote, in which some 14,400 candidates from 400 parties stood for the provincial election, there were no reported deaths throughout and only a few isolated incidents of violence. One Iraqi voter summed up the new atmosphere: “We were not able to vote during the 2005 elections because of the deteriorating security situation. But now we feel safe enough to go out and vote.” Read more ...
Source: FrontPage Magazine
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