There is large scale unrest all across the Middle East. Bahrain, Libya, Yemen, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Djibouti, Iran, Kuwait, Algeria, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, and probably others. Which country (besides Israel) is not on the list? Iraq.
And yet we were told by our anti-war and lefty friends that Iraq was the biggest military/foreign policy mistake the US had made since Vietnam.
I know we have lefty/anti-war readers. Would any of them care to explain the Iraq anomaly? Comments are open.
Cross Posted at Power and Control
The Country That Isn’t Barking
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8 responses to “The Country That Isn’t Barking”
I’m not lefty or anti-war, but Iraq is still an occupied country. Is our military presence there the reason?
***Crickets***
Frank,
In that sense Germany, Japan, South Korea, Britain, Canada, etc. are occupied countries.
There are demonstrations and such all over Iraq right now, but they’re focused supposedly on corruption or mismanagement.
http://www.uniraq.org/documents/iraqi_constitution.pdf
Article 1:
The Republic of Iraq is a single federal, independent and fully sovereign state in which the system of government is republican, representative, parliamentary, and democratic, and this Constitution is a guarantor of the unity of Iraq.
Article 2:
First: Islam is the official religion of the State and is a foundation source of
legislation:
A. No law may be enacted that contradicts the established provisions of Islam
B. No law may be enacted that contradicts the principles of democracy.
C. No law may be enacted that contradicts the rights and basic freedoms
stipulated in this Constitution.
Second: This Constitution guarantees the Islamic identity of the majority of the
Iraqi people and guarantees the full religious rights to freedom of religious belief and practice of all individuals such as Christians, Yazidis, and Mandean Sabeans.
It guarantees a lot of things that are not humanly possible to maintain for long.
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
WBY
Will,
I agree that Iraq will have to deal with the contradictions eventually. I’m laying 2 to 1 odds that those contradictions will be resolved by elections. The last news report I heard was that about 200 unhappy folks wanted a demo and the President (or was it Prime Minister) said a permit would be granted – no problem.
And yes Islam is governing. But which Islam? Shia? Sunni? Sufi? Kurdish? Albanian? There is enough discord there to keep the factions at odds with each other.
And don’t forget they just came through a war, a civil war, and a guerrilla war. That tends to temper people’s ambitions.
I too am certain that a majority would like a breather from the violence but I’ll take the other side of those odds.
M. Simon,
I hope the answer you’re looking for – that democracy in Iraq is the reason for no demonstrations – is right.
I have doubts.