Iraq Holds Successful Elections, Media Silent

February 3, 2009 · Filed Under Uncategorized

You wouldn’t know it by watching the news, but believe it or not Iraq held successful elections a couple of days ago with no violence. More importantly, it was Iraqi military and police who were in control of security — not American soldiers. 14 out of 18 provinces in Iraq held elections (the other three will be in a separate election later in the year) with thousands of candidates representing every political party and ideology imaginable. This is a first in the Arab world and a historical moment for the entire region.

These provincial elections were held in 14 of the country’s 18 provinces (Kurdistan will hold separate elections, and the disputed oil-rich city of Kirkuk was deemed “too hard” at present). This was the first post-Saddam election that the Iraqis handled themselves. Iraqi soldiers protected the polling stations. It was also the first election to have international observers in all 712 constituencies. In 2005 terrorist attacks made that too dangerous. Then, more than 200 candidates were killed – this time, eight died. There were 14,412 candidates standing for office, an impressive number.

This was also the first election in which there was no boycott on ethnic or sectarian grounds. There was an enormous spread of views represented on the ballot papers – Iraq is the only Arab country which offers almost everyone, including Trotskyites and monarchists, the freedom to stand for election.

If you notice, there was only a passing mention of the elections by the mainstream media who tried everything to engineer a defeat for America. The cowardly democrats led by Harry Reid also tried to make us lose, but they too failed. The liberal democrats were hoping for failure at the outset, but even the republicans who were initially on board with the mission later attempted to get president Bush to pull out.

The only person who stood steadfast throughout and refused to see America defeated was president Bush. Approval rating, reputation, and legacy be damned he stuck it out, doubled down, and saw us to victory.