This is our greatest hope- that everyone will turn to and trust in the democratic process, rather than violence. It is noteworthy that the Sunnis realized what a huge mistake they made by not participating in the first election and immediately did an about face and made sure to participate this time. Let's hope and pray that all Iraqis turn to the democratic process. That will ensure a timely departure for our military.
The problem is that if Sunnis turned out in significant #s and voted overwhelmingly against ratifying the constitution (which I believe is the case)but it passes anyway, then the lesson learned is that for them, in today's Iraq, participation in the democratic process is futile. This is not a dynamic likely to undermine the insurgency. This isn't to say that the Sunnis aren't getting their just desserts after decades of oppressing the Shia/Kurdish majority. However, everyone benefits from a stable Iraq and this (the current political process) doesn't seem like it is likely to achieve this.
I'm not sure how this contradicts my statement you were responding to or how you consider that naysaying? In response to your statement though perhaps we should've had someone invade, occupy and administer our last two presidential elections.
It's now official that the Iraqi Constitution has passed. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9803257/ Iraq draft constitution approved, officials say Results from Oct. 15 referendum indicate 78.59 percent backed charter Updated: 2:56 p.m. ET Oct. 25, 2005 BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq’s constitution was adopted by a majority in a fair vote during the Oct. 15 referendum, as Sunni Arab opponents failed to muster enough support to defeat it, election officials said Tuesday. A prominent Sunni politician called the balloting “a farce.” The U.S. military announced the deaths of two Marines in fighting with insurgents last week in Baghdad, bringing to 1,999 the number of American service members killed since the war started in 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The referendum results, announced after a 10-day audit following allegations of fraud, confirmed previous indications that Sunni Arabs failed to produce the two-thirds “no” vote they would have needed in at least three of Iraq’s 18 provinces to defeat the constitution. The charter is considered a major step in Iraq’s democratic reforms, clearing the way for the election of a new, full-term parliament on Dec. 15. Such steps are important in any decision about the future withdrawal of U.S.-led forces. However, some fear the victory, which came despite a large turnout by Sunni Arabs to try to defeat it, could enrage many members of the minority and fuel their support for the country’s Sunni-led insurgency. 'Very good job' Carina Perelli, the U.N. elections chief, praised a “very good job” with the audit of results by election officials and said “Iraq should be proud of the commission.” Iraq’s top two coalition partners, the United States and Britain, also welcomed the results. “The Iraqis are making inspiring progress toward building a democracy,” President Bush said. “By any standard or precedent of history, Iraq has made incredible political progress, from tyranny to liberation to national elections to the ratification of a constitution in the space of two and a half years.” British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Iraqis “have shown again their determination to defy the terrorists and take part in the democratic process.” Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini also welcomed the results, saying Italy would keep supporting the political process in the country. Farid Ayar, an official with the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq, said the audit had turned up no significant fraud. Allegations of fraud from Sunnis But Saleh al-Mutlaq, a Sunni Arab member of the committee that drafted the constitution, called the referendum “a farce” and accused government forces of stealing ballot boxes to reduce the percentage of “no” votes in several mostly Sunni provinces. “The people were shocked to find out that their vote is worthless because of the major fraud that takes place in Iraq,” he said on Al-Arabiya TV. Adnan al-Dulaimi, a spokesman for the General Conference for the People of Iraq, a largely Sunni coalition of politicians and tribal leaders, said the audit took so long it left many Sunnis suspicious of possible fraud and manipulation. But he said his group “will work to educate Iraqis and get them to participate” in the December vote. The charter was drafted after months of bitter negotiations that ended with some Sunni leaders agreeing to support it with provisions that future changes were possible. The vote on the constitution was 78.59 percent for ratification and 21.41 percent against, the commission said. The charter required a simple majority nationwide with the provision that if two-thirds of the voters in any three provinces rejected it, the constitution would be defeated. Three provinces voted no The election commission said the predominantly Sunni province of Ninevah had produced a “no” vote of 55 percent. Only two other mostly Sunni provinces — Salahuddin and Anbar — had voted no by two-thirds or more. Ninevah had been a focus of fraud allegations since preliminary results had showed a large majority of voters had approved the constitution, despite a large Sunni Arab population there. Many Kurds and majority Shiites strongly support the constitution, but Sunni Arabs fear it will create two virtually autonomous and oil-rich mini-states of Kurds in the north and Sunnis in the south, while leaving many Sunnis isolated in poor central and western regions with a weak central government in Baghdad. Some 9.8 million Iraqis cast ballots, or 63 percent of registered voters. About 60 percent turned out for January’s legislative vote, which was boycotted by many Sunni Arabs.
Iraq Constitution Approval Another Setback for Bush by Scott Ott (2005-10-25) -- In yet another setback for the Bush administration, Iraqi electoral officials announced today that voters have approved the new Iraqi Constitution by a margin of 78-to-21 percent. This new bit of bad news will likely drive President George Bush's popularity ratings into the single digits, according to an unnamed expert from a non-partisan, progressive political think-tank. "The Bush foreign policy continues to be fatally-wounded by clarity of purpose, dogged persistence and a pathetic failure to capitulate in the face of opposition," the source said. "At a time when a real leader would be paralyzed with self-doubt over the meaningless deaths of 2,000 American troops, Bush continues to act as if freeing 25 million Iraqis from decades of oppression, torture and death is somehow worth the price paid by those who volunteered to fight." "It's sad to watch our international credibility crumble like this," the anonymous policy expert said. "In 2008, I'm afraid you're going to see voters leaving the Republican party in droves, desperate to find a leader who provides a stronger sense of nuance and ambiguity." http://www.scrappleface.com/MT/archives/002367.html
Good for them, but I would strongly doubt that it makes any difference in the level of violence etc. Anyways, hopefully a step forward...
For a long time for sure - but Vietnam taught us that public opinion can impact such things. I think everyone no matter repub, democrat, Christian or Muslim, all hope that this constitution does take hold and Iraq because some kind of stable country so the U.S. can pull out as quickly as possible.
