” Iraqi Voter: “Anybody who doesn�t appreciate what America has done and President Bush, let them go to hell”
(I’d link to the video, but traffic this morning from Drudge seems to have taken the site down.)
While Canadian media whine on behalf of “Canadians” about having to go to endure election campaigning over the Christmas season, Iraqi’s are braving bullets and bomgs to reach the polls for the third time in a year.
Due to the success of the previous elections in this emerging democratic state in which Bush McChimpyHitler and the Jews Neocons are losing the war for American Imperialism to steal their oil, I suspect we aren’t likely to hear a lot about the Dec.15 vote unless catastrophic attacks occur. As conditions on the ground have continued to improve over past months, I’d think that unlikely.
|
|
The space above has been left blank for a reason. It’s a virtual “second chance” provided for my leftie readers to engage in a little soul-searching about that reflexive reaction they just had to my optimism – in hoping I’m proven wrong.
Jeff Goldstein;
On the cusp of nationwide elections in Iraq-as insurgent Sunni Arabs eager to join the political process “actively support the voting, reportedly promising to provide security at polling places, and informing Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and other terrorist elements that they oppose any effort to disrupt the elections” – it strikes me that those left arguing that the insurgency is really but a manifestation of Iraqi nationalism have placed themselves in the strange position of having to maintain that, well, the real Iraqis aren’t Iraqi at all, but are rather those non-Iraqi fighters who continue the insurgency, or at the very least, that these foreign fighters (and those who provide them with aid and support) are the only ones left who are really acting in the best interests of Iraq.
Captain Ed believes that the tipping point may have been reached in the American media (expect Canadian counterparts to lag behind for some time, as they generally do);
The Sunni participation puts the last of the building blocks in place for the establishment of a consensus democratic republic. The reporting of the Times indicates that the American media might finally start recognizing what will shortly become obvious to all whether they do so or not: that a free Iraq exists, thanks to an administration that steadfastly refused to listen to the Chicken Littles of the opposition and the whiners of the Exempt Media at home. The war may finally have turned the corner in the only place it could be lost — here in America.
Other places to follow developments on the blogosphere:
Iraq The Model (in Iraq)
Mesopotamian (in Iraq)
Gateway Pundit (USA)
You’re invited to add other Iraq election related links in the comments.
I saw that lady on TV last night – wish I had turned on the DVD recorder.
HERE is the WMV from Political Teen.
What a WMV!!!
What a moment!!!
On the eve of the Iraqi elections
Readers may want to listen to an NPR broadcast describing what will probably be heavy turnout of voters in Fallujah and throughout the Sunni triangle. Or read a post by Captain Ed called Has The War Turned The Corner … At Home?. Alastair Macdonald of Reuters now talks about what experts foresee may be irritants of long term US basing agreements with the new Iraqi government. Closer to the ground the Mesopotamian tells us which candidate he will probably vote for, and why, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. The discussion has shifted almost unnoticed from the question of whether the US will win in Iraq, a goal recently denounced as impossible by Howard Dean, to a debate about the consequences following it.
Some pundits will now qualify their past analysis to say that predictions America would be defeated in Iraq did not really mean a military defeat like Vietnam, when NVA tanks rammed down the presidential palace gates in Saigon, but a more subtle political defeat, still certain, yet to come. One of the nice things about discussing post-modern warfare is that definitions of defeat and victory have become so elastic that the one may be impersonated by the other. Yet historical revisionism cannot amend the fact that once doubt has entered into the church of defeat there is no return to perfect faith. Honest men of the Left must recognize that the US might actually have already won the military battle, a horror in itself; and even worse, might actually win the political fight ahead.
David Ignatius of the Washington Post is still uncertain about the wider victory. But he is no longer doubtful, if he ever was, about the wisdom of the fight. He wrote, in his emotional salute to the recently assassinated Lebanese politician and writer Gebran Tueni: >>> more
http://www.fallbackbelmont.blogspot.com/
Hot damn!
I can’t wait.
The lefties will be awestruck!
Lot of problems in Iraq but the vote in the past and tommorow has been knocking the socks of all the critics. That fact tells how important democracy is to those people and how they appreciate it.
The few terrorists continue to be a problem particularly in Baghdad – remember there is a lot more to Iraq than Baghdad and things are going along pretty good in those areas.
Eventually the terrorists will be history and democracy will prevail and spread in the middle east and we will thank people with a vision of the future who were prepared to sacrifice.
Shawn,
The left will not be “awestruck”. They will merely ignore this election, as they have ignored every other achievement.
No amount of reality affects the “Reality Community”.
Many people on the ‘right’ will not be awestruck by this election either. I don’t know what reality you live in, but the facts remain that this was an illegal invasion of Iraq (see Poland circa. 1939) and no amount of ‘democratic’ celebration will rationalize the countless waste of human life.
Lew–I agree with you–the end does not justify the means. Illegal wars and then elections are an oxymoron–how people can forget the illegality of the US and Britain bombing the hell out of Iraq for democracy is strange–democracy at the end of a gun or a bomb is not democracy at all–it is a bastardization of everything democracy is supposed to be.
Lew,
Just like the illegal invasion of France in 1944? and Italy, and Germany and Japan?
Hit the road, loser.
George,
I guess if you led the free world you too would have laid down with Hitler and Mussolini and taken it all the way up your arse until you could feel it on your teeth.
Go move to a cave.
Lew, George: What about the illegal invasions of the following neutral countries by the Allies (also known as the United Nations) during WW II: Denmark (Iceland), 1940; France (Syria and Lebanon), Iraq, and Iran, 1941; France (French North Africa), 1942?
Two excellent columns in the Washington Post (yes!) today:
“The Truth On the Ground” by Ben Connable (Marine major)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/13/AR2005121301502.html
“Breaking The Assassins” by David Ignatius
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/13/AR2005121301512.html
Mark
Ottawa
LOOOOOOOOOOOOU ! (pronounced in a Ted Knight voice)
“was an illegal invasion of Iraq”
You sound like “Comical Ali” the laughing stock of Iraq.
I miss both of them , Thanks LOOOOOOOOOOU!
Looks like a few people aren’t making use of the blank space provided.
We are in an age of “The ends justify the means.” “All’s well that ends well.” And “It’s not how, it’s how many.”
Do I celebrate the creation of democracy in Iraq if it’s successful? Of course I do. I also ride the rails that were laid down by slaves. This result could have been achieved in any number of ways and in any number of countries, and may still be. But the impetus for the initial public and political support for the invasion is still false, and no amount of spin can change that. Plus, nowhere on this blog is there any discussion about how the Iraqi constitution is basically rigged to favour Western business at the expense of Iraqi labour. Did the population vote for it? Of course. What alternative constitution was offered to them?
As for the American media, don’t forget that it was the “liberal New York Times” who led the call to arms, with Judy Miller and her buddy Ahmad Chalabi. (Isn’t he in charge of oil now in Iraq? Hmmm.)
I’m willing to give credit where it’s due if the Middle East becomes a better place, but don’t pretend that Buh’s hands are clean in all of this. If you believe that this invasion was only about the welfare of the Iraqi people, I have some beer and popcorn to sell you. At least I’m capable of seeing grey here.
Kate,
You are digital prozak some mornings … I tells ya!
Duke
You may not be able to grow democracy with the barrel of a gun but rifles can prepare a damn fine seedbed prior to sowing by discing out the weeds.
Illegal war? Since when has toppling a mass murderer been a crime? The guys that invaded Poland? I don’t see too many of them around any more running entire countries. George, Lew? Shame on you. The very fact that you can say these things without having placards hung around your necks, saying “Enemy of the People” just before your executions puts a lie to all of your emanations.
“Illegal wars and then elections are an oxymoron”
So is “left thinking”
My mistake. I now understand that it is OK to invade any country you want as long as you can fabricate enough evidence to suit your needs.
After all, Poland did ‘attack’ Germany in 1939 and this gave Germany as valid a reason to invade Poland as the U.S. fantasy of ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’ allowed then to ‘liberate’ Iraq.
I am ashamed for being so foolish.
You should be ashamed Lew.
Germany was not a liberator, or didn’t you know that either.
No, Germany was not a liberator, but their ‘casus belli’ in 1939 was just as valid as the ‘casus belli’ the U.S. invented to invade Iraq. I just love the double standard. When the U.S. does it, it is ‘liberation’. When another country does it, it is ‘blatant aggression’. What a joke.
Fortunately some of us ‘right-thinking’ people still believe that sovereign countries should not be invaded without just cause. Hopefully the higher-ups in the U.S. will figure that out someday.
LOOOOOOOOOOOOU, try to keep your eye on the target man.
Your moral equivalency Poland/Germany = Iraq/US ,UK,Autralia, New Zealand ,Turkey, et al is lame.
The “Lew” would equate the transformation of Iraq from Saddam’s murderous dictatorship into a democracy, to Hitler’s invasion of Poland says it all regarding the Left. QED
Lew, the “higher ups” in the US government are the voters. I realized that might have slipped your mind. If they didn’t like the “casus belli” they would have rejected the security program of the Republicans and installed the Dem’s; that didn’t happen and all the polls indicate that the “higher ups”, the voters, voted mainly on the security policies of the two party’s.
The actions of the former regime in Iraq rose to the level of “casus belli”, given their agreements to conditions of the ceasefire of the first Gulf War and their previous actions.
I see your manifestations of BSD all over. Let me make it simple for you. The United States finds itself as the pre-eminent power in the world, with the best trained, led, most flexible military the world has ever seen. It also knows that you can do everything with bayonets except sit on them. The US is now developing a set of tools; military, diplomatic and political that can clean out some of the more odius stables in the world. They are doing this not to rule and exploit as an imperial power but simply because it needs to be done. It is the right thing to do. If that is not nuanced enough for “right thinking”, “reality based” people; too damn bad, sucks to be you. If the “higher ups” think they are doing the wrong thing then the “higher ups” will speak. If you don’t like it and are a US citizen you get a voice in this decision. If you are not then you don’t. We have a saying, “Lead, follow or get out of the way.”
This process will take some years and we, the US, risk becoming a Spartan state in the process. But, I, as a veteran of two wars say, “Continue the Mission”.
Kate used to get paid a penny a plant to rogue out weeds in a certified seed crop. As a citizen soldier who was once a farmer, I know that was not how it started. First the ground was broken and prepared for seeding. Then the seed was sown. In Iraq we are getting things ready so that the Iraqi’s can rouge their own weeds and harvest the crop as they see fit.
One of my problems when I was farming was that sometimes my home garden went to hell while I getting the cash crop in. When I had time, I’d try to set things right and that sometimes meant pulling weeds in my own home place.
Lew, don’t be a weed. There is really no future in it.
“C’est la vie” Paul Martin : Eat crow/blanc mange.
“GETS NOD FROM BUSH”
Bush is George Bush, POTUS.
Proclamation to all the world: Victory for freedom and democracy in Iraq. >>>
WMD threat: PM
SADDAM’S MISSING WEAPONS IN TERRORISTS’ HANDS: MARTIN
By STEPHANIE RUBEC, OTTAWA BUREAU, SUN MEDIA
Prime Minister Paul Martin addresses a luncheon in Montreal. (CP PHOTO/Andre Pichette)
Prime Minister Paul Martin says he believes Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and they’ve fallen into terrorists’ hands. Martin said the threat of terrorism is even greater now than it was following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, because terrorists have acquired nuclear, chemical and biological weapons from the toppled Iraqi leader.
“The fact is that there is now, we know well, a proliferation of nuclear weapons, and that many weapons that Saddam Hussein had, we don’t know where they are,” Martin told a crowd of about 700 university researchers and business leaders in Montreal. “That means terrorists have access to all of that.”
‘NOT OUT OF IT YET’
The PM’s comments run counter to opinions expressed by leaders in such countries as France and Germany who have accused the U.S. and Britain of fudging evidence of WMDs to justify the war against Iraq.
When asked to assess the threat level since Saddam was captured by U.S. troops, Martin said he believes it has increased.
“I believe that terrorism will be, for our generation, what the Cold War was to generations that preceded us,” he said. “I don’t think we’re out of it yet.”
Martin disagreed with former prime minister Jean Chretien, who publicly blamed poverty for terrorism and the Sept. 11 attacks. “The cause of terrorism is not poverty, it is hatred.”
He said he’ll lead the charge to convince countries to join forces to combat terrorism and make sure the Third World has the tools to stamp it out.
Martin said he’s lobbying the international community to set up an informal organization to tackle world issues such as terrorism.
GETS NOD FROM BUSH
He said he got the nod from U.S. President George Bush during his visit last month to Washington, D.C., and will take his idea to the European Union and Latin America next. >>>
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2004/05/11/pf-455210.html
The main problem in the Middle East, and for Iraq going forward, is Islamic fundamental fascism. America will have to deal with the radicals in Saudi Arabia, Iran and Syria before the terrorism can end in Iraq.
This is the timetable as I see it. Iran has to be dealt with by March. I think this has been in the cards for two years. Syria will fall almost on its own. The comments by Israeli leaders is a distraction. Israel can deal with Iran but why should they when America has all its forces positioned and ready? Because of his successes in Afghanistan and now Iraq, George Bush will receive more favourable support in the Arab world if he takes out the nuclear sites and leadership in Iran than would Israel. The Arab world likes a winner. GW is a winner and they know it.
GW isn’t finished yet. More work to do.
Saudi Arabia is the tough one because of the oil. But there are only so many Wahhabi leaders in Saudi Arabia. And their locations are known. Enough said.
In a year or so every citizen of every dictatorship surrounding Iraq will be looking with envy at the freedoms the Iraqis will have. News travels fast even by word of mouth in the Middle East. And look for the Middle East media to switch to the winner as well, just as the MSM is now doing in America.
Is it not interesting that, while much of Europe is turning into Eurabia with clashes between cultures in Germany, France and others, and now also in Australia, that America is fighting these forces from the Dark Ages in their own countries, and leaving in their wake one democracy after another?
it is strange to see how no matter what you show some people they still believe votes only count if its for the group that screws you over with the most blatent and obvious disregard of everything but their own pleasure and comfort
Removal of a tyrant is not a crime. It is a moral necessity. Creation of democracy is not a crime. It, too is a moral necessity.
Liberty can and does frequently grow out out the barrel of a gun (e.g. Germany & Japan, post-1945).
Sadamn murdered more of his own people in 3 months, on average, than America has lost since the war began. How could anyone allow this to continue? (P.S. the Saudis deserve regime change even more than Saddamn did).
I have nothing but sympathy and support for the Iraqi people who will bravely vote in the coming days despite very real threats of violence.
I predict that they will vote in numbers that will put Canadians to shame. Maybe we should learn from them.
“Iraqi officials have imposed a nighttime curfew for the elections and I think that’s a great idea, because if there’s one thing the insurgents won’t monkey with, it’s a curfew.”
—David Letterman
Estimated turnout in Iraqi elections: 2/3 of registered voters (66%) [CNN]
Apporximate turnout in last Canadian Elections: 60% of registered voters.
Critics of the elections should be embarassed.
So should Canadians that didn’t vote.