Volume III. No. 29
 02-01-05
 The Sweet Allure Of Freedom In Iraq
 author: Vance Cureton
 © Copyright 2005
 

 George Bush finally got his election. Despite the threat of the insurgents
 to "wash the streets with blood" Iraqis turned out in the millions to cast
 their ballots in the first of three elections that will lead to a new constitution
 and a three-headed government later this year. By design, the power of
 the state will not be placed firmly in the hand of one individual. Perhaps 
 the only fair solution given the various ethnic groups and minorities that 
 do not in any way, trust one another.

 Lest, our Imperial President and his cronies get too full of themselves,
 the moment is still too early to ascertain just what this vote represented.
 Sunni muslims, the former politically-dominant group, voted in small 
 numbers. If at a later date, they come to regret their decision of declining
 to participate in this referendum, how will they respond? Will civic unrest, 
 if not outright civil war, be their only choice?

 As for the millions of Shiite Muslims and Kurds who did participate in the
 election, were their votes cast in hopes of establishing a democratic government, 
 or was this just a shell game to hasten the day when the Americans finally 
 pack their bags and depart for home?

 The Iraqis may have made a show of rejoicing, but we need to be far more
 cautious. Surely no one is foolish enough to believe that the citizens of
 Iraq are ready for Western-style democracy. The culture of the common 
 people there is revenged-based, as it is in the rest of the Arabic cultures 
 of the Middle East. Tribalism is a strong cultural influence. Women remain 
 marginalized under the guise of protecting their virtue.

 One democratic election will not change any of this.

 So, we will have to trust what we have seen with our own eyes. That of
 Iraqis holding up a purple-stained finger as they danced and rejoiced in
 the streets. Will democracy hold once a new government is installed? Or 
 will we watch in horror as the Iraqis redefine democracy into something 
 that is unrecognizable to us.

 If after 9/11, our civil rights, could be threatened by methods such as the 
 strangely-worded Patriot Act. What hope does a nascent democracy really 
 have in Iraq? We must instead have faith that two or three years down the 
 road, we won't be startled by images across the airwaves of Iraqis living 
 again in fear. But this time it won't be the dread of bombs, airplanes or 
 insurgents. Instead their fear will have been reawakened by a repressive 
 ruler who was incubated in a ballot box.

 Sunday was a remarkable day, but not a vote cast in this election experiment 
 was ever worth the cost in blood of a single American life.
 

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