Iraq Elections

This is the best summary of the Iraq elections I've seen. From the blog 'Musings on Iraq', which also happens to be one of the, if not the, best blogs analyzing Iraqi politics and US FP there.

Nationalists came out on top, those favoring a strong centralized state. Also winners were those who have proven in the past they can deliver services, rather than parties with platforms based on religious affiliation. Hmm, I wonder if all the violence in Iraq was about a lack of services and employment and security rather than 'religious hatred.' (I know this is simplistic and in a nutshell - see my much older post on how there was no Sunni Shii divide among the Iraqi population before the war.) No, that would be way too rational, reasonable and undramatic. It would also implicate the US in the problems. So let's stick with the ahistorical 'sectarian hatred' - it's much more fun (and easier for idiot politicians who know nothing about the Middle East) to paint Iraqis (and all Arabs) as wildly religious, ethnically charged crazies. Just bc someone yells Allah Akbar before blowing himself/ herself up doesn't mean that's WHY he or she is doing it.