Election Weekend

It's almost here, election day in Iraq. While the nay-sayers around the world continue to emphasize that the administration doesn't "have a plan" and there is "no exit strategy", we've watched during the last year as first "sovereignty" was returned to an interim Iraqi government, then a provisional assembly was formed with a transitional prime minister and finally a short-term draft of a constitution was prepared. Now, despite the denials of the doom-and-gloom crowd we're entering the weekend of the promised elections--on schedule and as forecast.

Now, none of those accomplishments have been perfect. "Sovereignty" as bestowed upon the interim administration in Iraq is more nominal than actual. There's not nearly enought legitimacy, very little truly established authority and even less of wide-spread acceptance. But, it is a step and it certainly doesn't smack of occupation or American imperialism.

What many choose to ignore is the fact that Iraq as a nation is a modern contrivance. Sometimes these post-colonial constructs work and sometimes, as in the case of Yugoslavia, they are abject failures. Having a first-world power declare borders and "nation-hood" while generally ignoring tribal, cultural, religious and language differences has been common in the 20th century and few places demonstrate the short-sightedness better than Iraq.

The Shia, Sunni, Kurds and other components of modern Iraq have a long history of distrust and dislike. They may succeed, if the leadership emerges that helps them to understand the advantages of sublimating their religous and tribal differences while seeking the greater political good of nation-building and democracy. Hands-across-the-aisle efforts in building the first elected government have a potential for success. Insuring that the Shiite majority doesn't establish overwhelming control to the detriment of the Sunni and Kurdish populations is a good start. Established representation of minority components of the nation might not be the purest implementation of democratic process but is one with a lot of potential for success.

The thuggish terrorists will be doing their damndest this weekend to upset the elections, but from this viewer's perspective, they won't succeed. There will be an election. There will be accusations of fraud. There will be loss of lives and terrorist acts. And, predictably, there will be a lot of Americans (mostly in the US Congress) who will highlight the shortcomings and downplay the successes. But, there will be democracy of a form established and progress on the road to nationhood.