A few comments on the Iraqi elections
February 1, 2005
I’ve spent most of the past few days giving interviews on the elections in Iraq, having numerous conversations with journalists, analysts and media people I know, and I have still have not gotten over how simplistic, misleading and incredibly patronizing the whole coverage has been.
From comments on the “historic” fact that Iraqis were voting in a “free and fair” election for the first time in 50 years, to the overconfident announcements that turnout had been high (nothing we didn’t expect in the south and the north, and just as low as we expected in central Iraq – regardless of what Condoleezza Rice had the nerve to say about a high turnout in Fallujah, of all places!), and to the ridiculously crude accounts of what exactly is the issue between Sunnis and Shias, the whole reporting process was heavily skewed and unprofessional.
Granted, it was difficult not to find the scenes of jubilant Iraqis somewhat heart-warming, especially when considering the unbelievable hardships they have endured not only since the Anglo-American invasion of their country, but since the merciless American-led sanctions were imposed over a decade before the invasion. It was reassuring not to have seen more violence than usual on Sunday (although I nearly suspect that some in the media were disappointed that nothing spectacular could launch them into “breaking news” mode – they had to wait until late afternoon for that, with the “crash” of the British Hercules plane). And it was satisfying to see that people bravely defied the insurgents and the terrorists’ threats, and took extreme risks to do what they believed was right (or what their highest religious authority told them to do).
But nothing can change the “facts on the ground,” to borrow from Bush’s assessment of Israeli borders. These “elections” were held under a violent military occupation, under the control of a puppet regime installed by the Bush administration (which only agreed to these elections under severe pressure from Sistani – remember the huge demonstrations one year ago?), with a significant proportion of the Iraqi population having been deliberately sidelined and rendered unable to participate in any process, political or otherwise. Iraqis went to the polls not knowing for whom they were voting, not quite understanding how the process functioned, and probably not sure of what they would end up with.
Throughout Sunday, one silly vision kept playing in my head: I could visualize children’s books showing simple characters, simple words, simple steps. As in: This is Dick. See Dick play. See Dick run. And the media, very condescendingly I thought, as if Iraqis (or Arabs) couldn’t have understood the concept of one person, one vote without the Americans, made the whole coverage of the Iraqi elections a televised version of a See Ali (or Mohamed, or Tariq) series: see Ali vote, see Ali being democratic, see Ali being happy thanks to us.
How appropriate that the first official statements regarding the election in Iraq should have been made by those who had the most to fear, and the most to hide: the masters, Bush and Blair, had the impertinence to rush to congratulate the Iraqi people on the “success” of the elections, not even waiting for their appointed middlemen to do it first.
The success or failure of these elections has nothing to do with turnout. Even if setting aside the caveat that there is no such thing as a free election under occupation, and that it is the duty of the occupier to provide for the occupied’s safety and well-being, it is only over the next few weeks and months that we can observe whether these elections served the Iraqi people’s interests.
If the new assembly can reach out to the communities which were marginalized, if the “new government” can manage to establish security and a semblance of normalcy (in terms of basic infrastructure, at least, including water, electricity, power and gasoline to begin with), and if a withdrawal of the occupation troops can be achieved, we can then speak about success. Since I believe that the latter is not on the agenda, and that the US plans to stay in the region for a long time, the other two factors will probably not be achieved either.
The US seems to believe that only the Sunnis and the ex-Baathists are opposed to their presence. I hate to think how much worse the situation will get if all the Shias (and not just Moqtada Sadr's followers) also eventually turn on them.
Salim Lone has again written in The Guardian, summarizing with heartfelt indignation his views (and many others') about these elections, calling them “An election to anoint an occupation.” As always, he makes for good reading, of which this is an extract:
"The millions of Iraqis, as well as the UN electoral team and the Iraqi election commission staff, who did participate in the process despite the grave risk, deserve our respect. But it was a risk taken in vain. The election was illegitimate, and cannot resolve the rampant insecurity resulting from the occupation. The only way to stop the destruction of Iraq is to end the occupation and enfranchise the Sunnis, who are leading the resistance because they see the US as systematically excluding them from the role they deserve to play in Iraq.
Indeed, this so-called election, with its national rather than provincial voting rolls, was designed to reduce Sunni representation and to anoint US-supported groups who will allow this occupation to continue. A high turnout does not change the fact that this is an illegitimate, occupier's election."
