Iraqis Should Vote

I just re-read my November 8th post entitled "Advice to the Iraqi People" (http://sensefromseattle.blogspot.com/2004/11/advice-to-iraqi-people.html).
With their election just a week away, I think my advice is still relevant and sound. In particular, I recommended the majority of the Iraqi people speak out against the insurgents and in support of the election process. I labeled the insurgents as mostly Islamic fundamentalist militants, mixed with some generic foes of the American occupation.

The insurgency has turned out to be much larger and more broadly based than I thought, apparently having much more support from non-fundamentalist occupation foes than I realized. Even more significantly, the Sunni population has embraced what seems to be a growing civil war mentality and has opposed the election itself,. The occupiers have so screwed up matters that resentment against the occupation appears to have overcome all other factors. The election process is increasingly seen, even by Shiites, as another fiasco caused by the occupiers - a sloppy rush job to be conducted in a military state of occupation, with no valid political forums in existence and with hopelessly inadequate security. Even the questionably authorized overseas voters are apathetic or in fear, with only 1 out of 9 of those eligible registering so far.

One glaring mistake made by the occupiers was to close down a radical Shia newspaper which criticized the occupation. That sparked Shia insurgents and showed the depth and breadth of resentment against the occupiers, giving a huge push to the militants. Letting critical viewpoints be expressed is a hallmark of a true democracy, and the self-proclaimed democratic occupiers looked like hypocrites when they practiced censorship. Balancing free speech with security concerns is tricky enough in an established democracy, but in an occupied country on which democracy is being imposed, it is essentially unworkable. [For an excellent article on censorship in Iraq, see the Project Censored 2005 article by Alex Gourevitch at http://sensefromseattle.blogspot.com/2004/11/advice-to-iraqi-people.html]

The terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi says on a tape just released that this election is rigged against the Sunnis, which it may well be, but the Sunnis could not expect to accomplish much even in a fair election, given their small numbers and the fact the brutal dictator was one of them. But al-Zarqawi, of Palestinian roots, goes beyond the rigging claim, saying democracy is wrong because it is rule by man rather than rule by God. Al-Zarqawi believes freedom of religion and expression, separation of church and state and having more than one political party are against God. The only such theocracies at present are the Christian Vatican and the Islamic Iran, so al-Zarqawi’s concept of government does not seem to ultimately be very achievable.

It is a lot to ask of the Iraqi people that they overlook historic differences and wrongs and that they brave terrorist voter intimidation to participate in a seriously flawed election, but what are the alternative? To not participate in the election could encourage the insurgency and prolong the occupation. My advice is to vote, and to consider that by voting you are telling both the Americans and al-Zarqawi to go home.