Democracy in Iraq, first step a stumble

The national congress in Iraq was supposed to be the first step toward Democracy in Iraq. Instead it turned out to be an exercise where the US puppet group of exiles could strengthen their grip on power. It turned out to be all about the Politics Of Exclusion In Iraq.

Last week's national political conference in Baghdad was all but eclipsed by the armed standoff outside the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf. But the Baghdad politicking was just as important for the future prospects of a unified Iraq, and the outcome was mostly discouraging.

Although it brought together what was probably the most diverse collection of Iraqis ever to sit in a single hall and produced some glimmers of democratic debate, the conference largely failed to achieve the crucial purpose assigned to it in the planning for a transition to a workable democracy. It was supposed to provide a broader base for governance and constitutional compromise than Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's narrow, exile-dominated cabinet. That did not really happen. Instead, the gathering was controlled from beginning to end by a familiar cast of characters, drawn from the same narrow sources as the first American-appointed Iraqi Governing Council. As a result, the Allawi government largely squandered its best single opportunity to draw disaffected Iraqis into peaceful politics in advance of next year's elections.

The "radicals" both Sunni and Shiite were for the most part left out.

...Dealing with these Sunni and Shiite radicals is admittedly difficult, and some of them probably want no part of a representative government. But leaving large numbers of them outside the tent makes more of the kind of revolts seen in Falluja, Najaf and the Sadr City neighborhood of Baghdad almost inevitable.

It would appear that this "first step to Democracy" may simply result in more uprisings and violence against the government.

The temptation to exclude radicals, like those now following Moktada al-Sadr, is natural. But the events of the last few months have made it obvious that groups that feel they have no say in the new government will find an outlet through other, more destructive means. The national conference was a rare opportunity to bring in excluded groups and make the elections meaningful. Regrettably, it fell well short of achieving those goals

Of course hate for the US has become so intense that probably no peace is possible as long a US troops are on Iraqi soil.