A London based Iraqis view of the Iraqi elections

I have just seen this in a local London paper and decided to reproduce it here, as it gives an insight into how many Iraqis feel about the movement of their country towards democracy. It also debunks a lot of arguments from the patronising left who disagree that the Iraqi people could ever make a success of democracy and should be left to sectarian tribalism.

"As a London based Iraqi currently visiting family and friends in Iraq I cannot help but notice the sense of hope surging through this devastated country. The Iraqi people have been summoned to ballot three times in one year and on all three occasions have responded in their masses.

All eager to have a say in the new democratic Iraq. It is a shame therefore that despite optimism within Iraq, the western mediacontinues to portray the situation there in a negative light, including the recent elections.

We need not forget that the whole concept of democracy is new to the people of Iraq, who had to endure two decades of dictatorship. Therefore the fact that many voted along sectarian lines is hardly surprising. Not was it unexpected. The allegations of fraud have also been exaggerated by the media who tend to ignore the fact that the United Nations representative in Iraq has described Iraq's elections as one of he most transparent to be held in the Middle East. Also the Independent Election Commission has relvealed that, even with hte votes under scrutiny for fraud the final results will remain unaffected.

After three defeats at the ballot the Sunnis must now realise that they are a minority and that the era when the minority ruled over the majority in Iraq has long passed. Moreover the fact that the United Iraqi Alliance, the clear victors of this election are already beginning negotiations to form a government of national unity that will include Arab Sunnis, Kurds and Turkomen is another positive sign for the new democratic Iraq. All will shared in the building of a bright future.

Iraq continues to move forward, the democratic proccess goes on and the Iraqi people with every vote cast continue to defy the terrorists who fear a democratic Iraq. The words of Abraham Lincoln best sum up the situation: "The ballot is stronger that the bullet". Try as might the terrorists will not win over the resilience of the Iraqi people at large."

 

this looks like one of them stories that the bush administration planted in iraqi newspapers.
"nothing wrong or out of the ordinary took place at all - the western media blew a lie out of proportion - fuck the sunnis - liberate the iraqis - forget how many have been killed"

i smell bullshit.

 

No its not a false story. It is genuine. There are a large number of Iraqi exiles living in London and have been for many, many years. Iraq was also hardly a bed of roses before the war was it? It was one of the worst countries in the world to live in under Saddam Hussein.

 

Well...that's definitely a different way of looking at it.

That's all I'll say about that. Thanks for sharing.

 

Shock Horror not everybody is bashing the situation in Iraq.. some see beyond the medias overindulgence with spin...

Susan Ebraham is a senior registration officer for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), an intergovernmental agency that is overseeing expatriate voting in 14 countries. She is working at the London polling station at the Wembley Conference and Exhibition Center.

"I am very happy. I am here today. It's really wonderful. Yesterday and today we have had about more than 3,000 people, they came. But most of them are working, so we expect huge numbers of people coming at the weekend, in fact. But, we are really very happy for today," Ebraham said.

Ebraham explained that her own family suffered terribly under Hussein. She said the 30 January elections for a transitional National Assembly is "proof that a new chapter is about to start in Iraq's history."

"I personally lost nine members of my family.... So, it's their day, actually," Ebraham said.

I thought you might find this interesting ..

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17714556%255E31477,00.html

If it helps stop the killing .. ITS A GOOD THING.

http://www.iraqicommunity.org/

 

Yes, the problem with all this is that it's super-cool trendy at the moment to slabber about George Bush Jr. Clearly, he deserves plenty of slabbering, but it doesn't change the fact that next to Saddam Hussein he's about as wholesome as the Milky Bar Kid.

One of the worst things in history has to be Bush giving Hussein the ultimatum to either prove he didn't have nuclear weapons or be bombed into the ground. Saddam, being the twisted git he is, decided to perpetuate the lie that he had nuclear weapons and therefore left his countrymen to pay the price. I'm far from being a Bush supporter, but for me there is no comparisson between him and Saddam.

 

This video clip is quite interesting: http://www.midwestheroes.com/docs/video/

It gives the other side to the war in Iraq, about the progress being made and how by taking the war to the terrorists in Iraq is keeping those terrorists from attacking us at home. It features statements by parents of soldiers who died in Iraq, proving not all of them are against the military operation there.