In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

IRAQ’S ELECTIONS & ITS AFTERMATH

On December 15, 2005, Iraq went through another mark of holding General Elections to elect its representatives on ‘one person one vote’ basis. These elections were held in the wake of adopting an “incomplete” constitution on October 15 with a redeeming feature that it can be revised or “reincarnated” by the elected Parliament the way it suits them. This last moment amendment to the Constitution cleared the way for the Sunni population of Iraq to participate in the foregoing elections and get a better chance to deal with the rigidity of the situation created by the hegemony of Shiia and Kurdish leadership to monopolize the oil revenue amongst them. It would have deprived the Sunnis from any regular source of Income to run the affairs of their zone. It shows that condition of Iraq is still in a “fluid” state howsoever President Bush may claim “success” and stands “firm” on his misguided Iraq’s policy based on false and concocted “stories” and his “whimsical” slogan: War on Terror”.

The tragedy of President Bush does not end here. In consequence of a “lie” he argumented for attack on Iraq, both he and his VP had to “edit” a lot of “lies” in support that are coming out in national press in routine. The US Patriot Act is a logical quandary of his self-imposed war on terror. Passing orders for unauthorized and unconstitutional spying on the free and innocent American people at home, trying “presumed” terrorist in foreign lands, rendition of forcefully detained innocent and unproven “terrorist”, and fast losing of the US prestige and integrity in our own hemispheres, all culminating in total ruination of his image within and outside the USA along with image of the country that he commands and represents. They are the direct outcome of his preemptive attack on Afghanistan and Iraq and his “personal” war against terror. It made both the occupied countries bleed. Nowhere elections could restore peace. However, the scenario in Iraq has eased a bit and that is due to local conditions.

Sunnis have rightly resolved to jump into the election process and the insurgents “wisely” made the situation rather “peaceful” for voters to come out in mass and vote in festive mood. More than seventy percent of the registered voters participated in the process. The tabulation of election will take some time but one thing is sure that the new Parliament will have enough Sunni representation to give new shape to the “approved” constitution with sufficient protection for their “rights and respectability” in the ocean of Shiia and Kurdish domination. This bargaining point may create bottlenecks and stalemate in finalizing the constitution ultimately. To bridge the gap, his “Master’s voice” will have to intervene every now and then to get the process running smooth. The thorny point would be the allocation of oil revenue to the three claimants. The USA has to get it distributed on the basis population of each party of the dispute. Here the question may arise that who represents how much and for that census will become indispensable as the first priority of the national government. Verbal claim of majority and minority will not serve the purpose. The USA has to conduct a fair census under its guidance that Iraq never seasoned.

The redeeming feature of this political process is that the Parliament is being elected for four years. It will work both as the Constitutional body to amend and finalize its shape and at the same time will run the day to day affairs of the State through its elected government. It is the same concept that I presented in my paper: “The Roadmap for Iraq” on November 16, 2003 but in different words. Had the “occupants” of Iraq resorted to this process, there would have been no “insurgency” in Iraq and many valuable lives would have been saved on both the sides. This column of “Muslims” would stand witness to this truth. But who cares?

Iraq may have an un-stabilized “established” government but no peace and security in sight. The one-day respite in Iraq has been shattered by the insurgents next day. The suicidal attacks have been resumed and it would continue as a routine feature of Iraq’s occupation. If the President Bush and his henchmen think that through holding elections, they will get peace and security, they were totally wrong as President has yesterday admitted that the insurgency will continue unabated and the reason lies elsewhere and the Bush regime is not prepared to think about it due to its arrogance. It is very simple. The USA has to recast its foreign policy in retrospective and evaluate how much injustices it has done, is doing or is likely to commit throughout the world in protecting its global interests, the interest of its friends and allies and the foremost interest of International Zionism and then evaluate how many “enemies” it has created in its aftermath throughout the Muslim world and the world at large. They all are determined to take “revenge” in Iraq as it is the most “fertile land now available to them to retaliate. So the insurgency in Iraq and in Afghanistan will continue “unabated” till Uncle Sam do realize his follies and mistakes of past, present and would-be future. Here at this point President Bush is “right” as he realized in his heart the mistakes he is “committing” but has no moral courage to admit and rewind the situation to normalcy.

Iraq will, thus, remain bleeding, “enjoying” an “uneasy” peace and somewhat “perpetual” sufferings from want of security and basic human needs for a long time to come under American and Iraqi “bayonets”. In the aftermath of the foregoing elections, nurturing of any hope tha it would pave the way to call back some of our armed men and women in uniform even by the end of 2006 is a far distant possibility except doing some cosmetic “replacements” here and there. The so-called “elected-puppet-government” of Iraq will never dare to ask American forces to withdraw its bulk from Iraq. It would be neither in the interest of the vested interests in Iraq, nor the corporate interest of the USA that is being represented by Bush’s regime nor in the overall interest of oil-hungry capitalistic world. Americans are always “ready” to be bogged down in the waters of Euphrates and Tigris for a time unknown as only in that situation, it would serve the paramount interest of Greater Israel. The aftermath of these elections are spread over decades at least, if not centuries.

Shamim Siddiqi December 19, 2005