Ballots beat bombs: Iraqis vote for democracy

NY Post ^ | March 9, 2010 | Ralph Peters

[Scanian]

Threats, bombs and at least 36 dead didn't stop Iraqis from voting on Sunday. But the harder part -- forming a new, more inclusive national government -- lies ahead.

Formal results won't come for a few days. We'll learn how many votes, authentic and fraudulent, went to each of the big five parties and fringe elements. But the news looks good, so far.

The biggest question for us in this election has been how much influence Iran might have in the aftermath. Tehran pulled out all the stops -- funneling in money and agents, sponsoring terror and engaging in no end of political chicanery.

[odds]

This is a good article/analysis. Best wishes for Iraqis, they deserve democracy and stability. The best thing to happen would be a gradual & ongoing move toward nationalism and secularism by the average Iraqi (Arab or Kurd). Hopefully this will be reflected in their choice of gov’t.

My main concerns at present are:

1. Outcome of the election. Realistically, neither the Iranian gov’t, which backs the majority Shia elements, nor those foreign organizations/gov’ts who back the Sunnis, in the medium or longer term, will discontinue their attempts at hellraising & manipulation in their own favor.

2. A bigger test will be when the American troops pull out or reduce their presence in Iraq. My guess is that, at least, the Iranian gov’t is waiting for this to happen, before intensifying their overt and covert meddling.

3. Corruption.

Anyway, democracy doesn’t happen in a few yrs or simply w/elections. But, once people have a taste of it and it is embedded in the way people do things, then it’s much harder to uproot.