Post by RPankn on Dec 19, 2005 5:32:28 GMT -5
If you can get past the wordy, run on sentences.
DLC | New Dem Dispatch | December 16, 2005
Idea of the Week: Middle Eastern Democracy
We may not know for weeks exactly what kind of government yesterday's Iraqi elections produced, but the fact that they were successfully held, with relatively little violence, and with an extraordinary turnout among Arab Sunnis as well as Kurds and Shi'a, is unmistakably good news.
The Arab Sunni participation, in sharp contrast to the virtual boycott in that community of last January's elections for a temporary National Assembly, is a major turn of events in Iraq. It represents a large and positive step toward the single most essential ingredient for peace and stability in Iraq: a decision by Sunnis to embrace politics as an alternative to violence in achieving their goals of accelerating an end to the U.S. military presence and protecting their interests as a new Iraqi order takes shape.
Moreover, these elections were in themselves an historic breakthrough for the Arab Middle East. Iraq has just become the world's first genuine Arab democracy -- perhaps not a full-fledged American-style democracy, but a democracy nonetheless in the basic sense of a nation governed by a popularly elected government representing every element of its society. If this government, and the process which created it, endure, it could become the catalyst for the political, economic and social transformation of the Greater Middle East that provides the best way, and perhaps the only way, to diminish the appeal of jihadist terrorism.
But even in the short term, these elections could make the road ahead in Iraq much clearer and straighter. The United States can now end its major military involvement in Iraq the right way, through negotiations with an Iraqi government whose legitimacy can no longer be questioned, instead of through arguments between politicians in Washington. That is why the elections clearly represented an important, if hardly a final, benchmark toward what all Americans want: an expedited withdrawal from Iraq on terms that do not produce a calamity for Iraqis or a national security setback for ourselves.
To be sure, this is only the first step along that path. It's not clear at this point whether the insurgents' decision to cooperate with Sunni voting was a mere tactical maneuver -- ballots today, and a return to bullets tomorrow -- or reflects a strategic defeat in the Sunni community that public sentiment has forced them to accept. It is certain that the insurgency will continue, fed by "foreign fighters" who despise democracy, as well as indigenous forces unwilling to give up the privileged Sunni position of the Saddam years. But the elections certainly represent a powerful setback to those insurgents determined to foment an immediate Sunni-Shi'a civil war, and a powerful rebuttal to their past arguments that the Iraqi government is a U.S. puppet regime.
Other Iraqi communities have critical decisions to make as well, particularly if cross-communal or secular parties like that of former Prime Minister Allawi don't come out of the elections in a strong position. The Shi'a parties must show continuing good faith towards legitimate Sunni concerns, make it clear they don't see democracy as short-term step towards Islamic authoritarianism, and begin decisively distancing themselves from Iran. Both Shi'a and the Kurds must temper demands for regional rights that could produce a weak national government and an intensification of communal conflict accompanied by an arms race among factional militias. The United States must continue to use its still considerable influence to broker political compromises and help build national institutions based on the rule of law rather than factional interests.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, these elections help vindicate the basic idea that democracy remains the strongest weapon in what is ultimately a war of ideas against Islamist extremism. By this we don't mean democracy as a magic elixir, as Bush administration officials sometimes seem to describe it, but democracy as a process whereby people wounded and fearful after decades of tyranny learn to negotiate, compromise, build up institutions of civil society, and forge a national identity based on mutual respect and free consent rather than brutal coercion.
And if that can happen in Iraq, it can happen throughout the Middle East -- in Palestine, in Egypt, and even in Saudi Arabia.
In the end, that's the just and worthy cause we are fighting for in Iraq -- the cause our troops have suffered and died for -- and we urge Democrats in particular to look beyond our justifiable anger at the administration's many blunders and its stubborn refusal to admit them, and embrace that cause as our own.
www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=131&subid=207&contentid=253654
DLC | New Dem Dispatch | December 16, 2005
Idea of the Week: Middle Eastern Democracy
We may not know for weeks exactly what kind of government yesterday's Iraqi elections produced, but the fact that they were successfully held, with relatively little violence, and with an extraordinary turnout among Arab Sunnis as well as Kurds and Shi'a, is unmistakably good news.
The Arab Sunni participation, in sharp contrast to the virtual boycott in that community of last January's elections for a temporary National Assembly, is a major turn of events in Iraq. It represents a large and positive step toward the single most essential ingredient for peace and stability in Iraq: a decision by Sunnis to embrace politics as an alternative to violence in achieving their goals of accelerating an end to the U.S. military presence and protecting their interests as a new Iraqi order takes shape.
Moreover, these elections were in themselves an historic breakthrough for the Arab Middle East. Iraq has just become the world's first genuine Arab democracy -- perhaps not a full-fledged American-style democracy, but a democracy nonetheless in the basic sense of a nation governed by a popularly elected government representing every element of its society. If this government, and the process which created it, endure, it could become the catalyst for the political, economic and social transformation of the Greater Middle East that provides the best way, and perhaps the only way, to diminish the appeal of jihadist terrorism.
But even in the short term, these elections could make the road ahead in Iraq much clearer and straighter. The United States can now end its major military involvement in Iraq the right way, through negotiations with an Iraqi government whose legitimacy can no longer be questioned, instead of through arguments between politicians in Washington. That is why the elections clearly represented an important, if hardly a final, benchmark toward what all Americans want: an expedited withdrawal from Iraq on terms that do not produce a calamity for Iraqis or a national security setback for ourselves.
To be sure, this is only the first step along that path. It's not clear at this point whether the insurgents' decision to cooperate with Sunni voting was a mere tactical maneuver -- ballots today, and a return to bullets tomorrow -- or reflects a strategic defeat in the Sunni community that public sentiment has forced them to accept. It is certain that the insurgency will continue, fed by "foreign fighters" who despise democracy, as well as indigenous forces unwilling to give up the privileged Sunni position of the Saddam years. But the elections certainly represent a powerful setback to those insurgents determined to foment an immediate Sunni-Shi'a civil war, and a powerful rebuttal to their past arguments that the Iraqi government is a U.S. puppet regime.
Other Iraqi communities have critical decisions to make as well, particularly if cross-communal or secular parties like that of former Prime Minister Allawi don't come out of the elections in a strong position. The Shi'a parties must show continuing good faith towards legitimate Sunni concerns, make it clear they don't see democracy as short-term step towards Islamic authoritarianism, and begin decisively distancing themselves from Iran. Both Shi'a and the Kurds must temper demands for regional rights that could produce a weak national government and an intensification of communal conflict accompanied by an arms race among factional militias. The United States must continue to use its still considerable influence to broker political compromises and help build national institutions based on the rule of law rather than factional interests.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, these elections help vindicate the basic idea that democracy remains the strongest weapon in what is ultimately a war of ideas against Islamist extremism. By this we don't mean democracy as a magic elixir, as Bush administration officials sometimes seem to describe it, but democracy as a process whereby people wounded and fearful after decades of tyranny learn to negotiate, compromise, build up institutions of civil society, and forge a national identity based on mutual respect and free consent rather than brutal coercion.
And if that can happen in Iraq, it can happen throughout the Middle East -- in Palestine, in Egypt, and even in Saudi Arabia.
In the end, that's the just and worthy cause we are fighting for in Iraq -- the cause our troops have suffered and died for -- and we urge Democrats in particular to look beyond our justifiable anger at the administration's many blunders and its stubborn refusal to admit them, and embrace that cause as our own.
www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=131&subid=207&contentid=253654
