I'm a little behind when it comes to covering news on war and foreign policy in TIA Daily. Blame global warming. No, really. Between Climategate and the ongoing health care saga—which ought to have been over six months ago—there hasn't been much time to cover anything else. This, by the way, is one of the costs of having a would-be socialist in the presidency. He siphons so much mental energy into arguments over his grandiose schemes for government control, that there is too little left to focus on the actual, legitimate functions of government, such as national defense.
At any rate, the first few items in today's edition of TIA Daily are an attempt to begin catching up on that news, beginning with the legacy of the American counter-insurgency victory in Iraq.
With American troops on their way out, Iraq is headed into its first post-war election at the end of this week.
On the good side, the New York Times has a couple of nice reports from its correspondents, one on the political discussion in an Iraqi barbershop, another on training seminars for candidates on how to run election campaigns. All of this indicates how Iraqis are getting to know the normal political processes of a free society.
On the bad side, the Washington Post has a report on the threat to freedom of speech, both from official legal harassment and from violence against reporters who become too intrepid.
But from the perspective of solidifying our counterinsurgency victory, the biggest news is that one of the main Sunni parties has chosen not to boycott the election. The Sunni vote is important partly because it could be a very effective counterbalance to Iraq's Shiite religious parties, which have a history of being friendly with Iran. (Iranian interference in Iraqi politics remains a major problem—a consequence of the failure of both the Bush administration and the Obama administration to take effective action against the Islamic Republic.)
Ongoing disagreement over Iraq's election laws, which delayed the election by about six weeks, raised the possibility that Sunnis would sit out this election, as many of them did in the election in 2005, reopening a sectarian divide that would undermine support for the government.
Now it looks like that won't happen. The Iraqis have a republic. It is a dysfunctional republic, by our standards, but it is a republic—if they can keep it.
In fact, Iraq is turning out well enough that Vice President Joe Biden is trying to steal credit for it, claiming that Iraq "could be one of the great achievements of this administration. You're going to see 90,000 American troops come marching home by the end of the summer. You're going to see a stable government in Iraq that is actually moving toward a representative government."
The greatest achievement of this administration? ABC's Jake Tapper reports on Biden's astonishing statement—and the history of Obama's and Biden's wholesale opposition to everything that made that achievement possible.
"Iraqi Vote Will Have Presence of Sunnis," Charles Levinson, Wall Street Journal, February 26
A top Sunni political party on Thursday announced it would compete in March 7 elections, reversing a boycott pledge made last week by its leader, who was banned from running because of his alleged ties to the outlawed Baath Party….
"We have decided to participate with all our weight in the election, and we call on our supporters to come crawling to the voting booths," Mr. Mutlaq said at a news conference. Mr. Mutlaq is still banned from the running in the election himself, and won't seek a seat in Parliament….
The Supreme National Commission for Accountability and Justice banned the candidates as part of a vetting process of more than 6,000 parliamentary candidates for ties to Saddam Hussein's Baath Party. The ban targeted Sunnis and secularists.
On Saturday, Mr. Mutlaq announced his party would boycott the vote in response. But since then, Mr. Mutlaq has come under pressure from other political parties he allied with for the elections. He also received a flood of letters and phone calls from Sunni tribal and community leaders urging him to reverse his decision, he said….
Shortly before the commission decided to ban Mr. Mutlaq, he had announced the formation of an election alliance with Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite former Iraqi Prime Minister.
That alliance, representing Iraqi nationalists, secularists and Sunnis, has emerged as a threat to the Iran-backed Shiite religious parties that have dominated Iraqi politics since the US invasion in 2003.
Robert Tracinski writes daily commentary at TIADaily.com. He is the editor of The Intellectual Activist (TIA) and contributor to The Freedom Fighter's Journal
At any rate, the first few items in today's edition of TIA Daily are an attempt to begin catching up on that news, beginning with the legacy of the American counter-insurgency victory in Iraq.
With American troops on their way out, Iraq is headed into its first post-war election at the end of this week.
On the good side, the New York Times has a couple of nice reports from its correspondents, one on the political discussion in an Iraqi barbershop, another on training seminars for candidates on how to run election campaigns. All of this indicates how Iraqis are getting to know the normal political processes of a free society.
On the bad side, the Washington Post has a report on the threat to freedom of speech, both from official legal harassment and from violence against reporters who become too intrepid.
But from the perspective of solidifying our counterinsurgency victory, the biggest news is that one of the main Sunni parties has chosen not to boycott the election. The Sunni vote is important partly because it could be a very effective counterbalance to Iraq's Shiite religious parties, which have a history of being friendly with Iran. (Iranian interference in Iraqi politics remains a major problem—a consequence of the failure of both the Bush administration and the Obama administration to take effective action against the Islamic Republic.)
Ongoing disagreement over Iraq's election laws, which delayed the election by about six weeks, raised the possibility that Sunnis would sit out this election, as many of them did in the election in 2005, reopening a sectarian divide that would undermine support for the government.
Now it looks like that won't happen. The Iraqis have a republic. It is a dysfunctional republic, by our standards, but it is a republic—if they can keep it.
In fact, Iraq is turning out well enough that Vice President Joe Biden is trying to steal credit for it, claiming that Iraq "could be one of the great achievements of this administration. You're going to see 90,000 American troops come marching home by the end of the summer. You're going to see a stable government in Iraq that is actually moving toward a representative government."
The greatest achievement of this administration? ABC's Jake Tapper reports on Biden's astonishing statement—and the history of Obama's and Biden's wholesale opposition to everything that made that achievement possible.
"Iraqi Vote Will Have Presence of Sunnis," Charles Levinson, Wall Street Journal, February 26
A top Sunni political party on Thursday announced it would compete in March 7 elections, reversing a boycott pledge made last week by its leader, who was banned from running because of his alleged ties to the outlawed Baath Party….
"We have decided to participate with all our weight in the election, and we call on our supporters to come crawling to the voting booths," Mr. Mutlaq said at a news conference. Mr. Mutlaq is still banned from the running in the election himself, and won't seek a seat in Parliament….
The Supreme National Commission for Accountability and Justice banned the candidates as part of a vetting process of more than 6,000 parliamentary candidates for ties to Saddam Hussein's Baath Party. The ban targeted Sunnis and secularists.
On Saturday, Mr. Mutlaq announced his party would boycott the vote in response. But since then, Mr. Mutlaq has come under pressure from other political parties he allied with for the elections. He also received a flood of letters and phone calls from Sunni tribal and community leaders urging him to reverse his decision, he said….
Shortly before the commission decided to ban Mr. Mutlaq, he had announced the formation of an election alliance with Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite former Iraqi Prime Minister.
That alliance, representing Iraqi nationalists, secularists and Sunnis, has emerged as a threat to the Iran-backed Shiite religious parties that have dominated Iraqi politics since the US invasion in 2003.
Robert Tracinski writes daily commentary at TIADaily.com. He is the editor of The Intellectual Activist (TIA) and contributor to The Freedom Fighter's Journal
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