Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Back To Iraq

Votes are being counted. So far there is possible widespread fraud, but that is nowhere near certain. It has sparked some extra investigation at least. Since that article came from the NY Times, I'm nost sure if I believe it at all. The NY Times has got almost nothing right in the news for a long time now and frankly they suck.

I am going to say about this referendum the exact same thing that I said about the election at the beginning of this year. I am glad that these people voted, but until a government is in power it will be difficult to tell if a real representative democracy will find its way into Iraq. I am excited that the people are getting to vote, all the same.

I also discovered this clever article that comes out in favor of the war in Iraq. The author discusses smurfs and that's why I'm writing in blue today. Enjoy.

7 comments:

tully said...

I like your new blog link, "The Last Debate" It's like my blog, only with completely opposite opinions and the occasional explitive. I've been sparring with him today, and it's a good blog. Good pick!

Esther said...

Yes, I find Andy's opinions and thoughts to be very interesting. They speak to the dissatisfied about my government side of me. I put his link in because I've been reading his blog for a while now and figured it was time to give him a link.

Andy said...

Aw, I'm feeling all warm and fuzzy over here. : )

Actually, I think the fraud allegations will come to naught in Iraq as the recounts are being done in the regions where the constitution was expected to pass with pretty much the percentages we're seeing. I don't think there's much of anything that can be done to assuage the Sunni minority who feel disenfranchised by the process; it didn't help that the Shiites and Kurds actually DID get together and attempt to disenfranchise them until international pressure forced them to reverse those decisions.

The problem with this constitution, as I see it, is that all our hopes are pinned on it as being the glue that will hold this country together. Bush likes to compare it to our own Constitutional convention in Philadelphia, which of course was also fraught with disagreement. However in Philadelphia, despite their differences the delegates really wanted a unified country, and they weren't killing each other outside in guerrilla attacks. In Iraq, I'm not sure that consensus really exists.

Will said...

I agree the investigation won't make much difference, because they aren't auditing the votes from the two provinces where fraud may have actually tipped the election. But the approval is definitely a good thing.

I generally like the NYT...I do clippings every morning for my boss, and I've found it tracks pretty well with the Washington Post and Times, and is often more in-depth.

Erin said...

Loved the article! And I agree with the statements that the charges won't go anywhere. I hope fraud wasn't the case. What a crappy way to start a new government. What ever happened to honest people?

Esther said...

Will: It's probably more the editorials that are always wrong in my opinion. I think the other thing was, some of the reporting about Hurricane Katrina turned out to be false later on.

Will said...

Ok, I think I heard about that--most of what I see is foreign news, anyway, so we may have differen perspectives.