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The cost of “success” of Iraqi democracy
Since there had already been two other elections in Iraq over the last year, the thing that makes this last election stand out as a great success in the eyes of President Bush’s supporters is the large turnout by Sunnis, who had boycotted the previous elections. As Mark Steyn told Hugh Hewitt in a radio interview:
… what you realize is that even in the Sunni Triangle, there’s very few people who think that the way to advance your interests is to send crazy guys to blow up on commuter buses, where they’re not killing American troops, they’re not killing infidels anymore. They’re killing Muslims. And the majority of the Sunni, who voted in phenomenal number today, have figured out that they do not want Zarqawi to be their voice in deciding their say in the future of Iraq.So, the Sunnis by voting are showing that they don’t support Zarqawi. But notice the way Steyn puts it. The reason Sunnis decline to support Zarwaqi is that he’s killing Iraqis, not that he’s killing Americans. Even in the Sunni Triangle, he says, “there’s very few people who think that the way to advance your interests is to send crazy guys to blow up on commuter buses, where they’re not killing American troops, they’re not killing infidels anymore. They’re killing Muslims.” Steyn is plainly implying that the Sunnis have no problema with Zarqawi killing Americans. This is not just a personal inference of Steyn’s, this is the quasi-official reality of the election. As VFR readers will remember (see this and this and this, and, in fact, see the entire VFR postings for the week of November 20), the reconciliation agreement last month among representatives of the three main Iraqi groups, which was also signed by the country’s president, that famous communiqué that led to the Sunnis’ participation in the election, made it clear that killing Americans was legitimate resistance. The very thing that got the Sunnis to vote was an official agreement by all the major factions in Iraq that killing Americans was ok. And these are the people whose massive voter turnout President Bush, his administration, and the legions of his “conservative” supporters are hailing as a great success for democracy, and a great success for America.
If you didn’t understand it before, now you understand why I oppose any attempt by America to democratize Muslim countries, even if the attempt succeeds. Email entry |