Rich Lowry makes a very good point about the aftermath of the Iraqi elections. Expect Italian and Israeli-style political dynamics as Iraqis begin to work things out, with lots of tummult, factions, and theatre. The media will freak out, of course, but as leading Iraqi dissident Kanan Makiya has noted before, it's probably a healthy and necessary process. So ignore all those future "sky is falling" headlines, sit back for the show, and try to figure out how we can all help the Iraqis without getting in their way.
Don't see how that can be with a party with an absolute majority.
"Don't see how that can be with a party with an absolute majority. "
Because there is no 'party' with an absolute majority. Way too much has been made of the religious sectarianism. Iraq is a much more complex nation. There are Shiia Islamicists that arent getting in a tent with the communists or the secularists etc (and the same goes for the Sunni and Kurds as well, heck the Kurds fought amongst themselves as much as they fought Saddam)... Just like in many nations, the minorities will consolidate and vote in a block while the majority splinters. They will have to cut deals with sects of the Kurds and Sunni to rule, which we are already seeing.
Someone should tell the Sunnis you cant be disinfranchised by your own boycott:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&e=5&u=/ap/20050202/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq
Mark, i had problems with the media freaking out over the tummult because the shiites will fall apart long after the Americans have left after which the media will pay little to no attention to Iraq. The losers in this election say that the Americans will be gone in a year so the unite shiite will probably ask for much less.
You may be correct but all the noises they are making is to the contrary. Regardless, the new constitution cant be approved without Sunni ok.
You only need a majority to have a parlementarian coup de etat, which they have. And the Sunni's didn't vote so i don't see how they matter legally (politically they naturally do). Also who says they wont go back to the old constitution with the pro Saddam provisions removed
The loser i was talking about was the present president, think he is shiite. He was saying that the Americans should leave in a year
And I wish we had Proportional Representation. Ironic that a Sunni Iraqi has more representation than this libertarian American.
They took your gun away. Those goverment bastards.
You could ask the Sunni's for a spare weapon. I bet they have plenty left.
I could, but I'd probably shoot my eye out. And how exactly would a weapon help, anyway? My problem is that my representative has no incentive whatsoever to listen to me, because they have no hope for winning my vote. Are you suggesting I threaten my Democratic representative to get 'em to listen to me? That's a terrorist act that'll just get me thrown in jail.
Fling can you forgive me?
I shouldn't have made a bad joke about guntoting libertarians.
Ah, no worries. I know there are plenty of libertarians of the barking moonbat variety, and I have my theories as to why.