Iraq success story! 87% of Iraqis look forward to voting!

October 22, 2004 7:26 PM

Iraq success story! 87% of Iraqis look forward to voting!... but not for Allawi! How about Abdel Aziz Hakim instead? He's the leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, and former leader of his own Iranian-trained and armed paramilitary army. Hakim was once part of Da'wa, an organization that bombed the US embassy in Kuwait in '83 and gave birth to Hezbollah. In the '90s, Da'wa and SCIRI seperated ideologically, with claims that SCIRI were Iranian lackeys. SCIRI now claims to have gone political, and although they enforce Sharia standards in Basra, they now claim to be pro-democracy and opposed to an Islamic state. Many secular Iraqis don't trust Hakim's motives or his close ties to Iran, however.
"(The U.S. occupation) is primarily responsible for (the death of my brother) and the blood that is shed all over Iraq every day. Iraq must not remain occupied and the occupation must leave so that we can build Iraq as God wants us to do."
- Abdel Aziz Hakim
posted by insomnia_lj (12 comments total)

"The picture it paints is that, after all the blood and treasure we've spent and despite the [U.S.-led] occupation's democracy efforts, we're in a position now that the moderates would not win if an election were held today," said a U.S. official who requested anonymity because the poll has not been released.

They really didn't think this thru at all, did they? They actually thought their puppets would have popular support?
posted by amberglow at 9:23 PM on October 22, 2004

You have to wonder if Bush will pull our troops out immediately after the election, thus allowing the militants to take over the government and reinstate Saddam.
posted by fleener at 10:00 PM on October 22, 2004

They really didn't think this thru at all, did they? They actually thought their puppets would have popular support?

It worked in Afghanistan, didn't it? And it will probably work in Iraq; if this holds, I'm sure they'll find some way to manipulate the polls. Or they'll just say "well, this is what they want" and take off, which would be a wicked cool exit strategy. Their new slogan could be "hey, whatever, at least we tried"
posted by The God Complex at 3:24 AM on October 23, 2004

You have to wonder if Bush will pull our troops out immediately after the election, thus allowing the militants to take over the government and reinstate Saddam.

You think these guys would reinstate Saddam? Puh-lease. This is some fundamentalist Islamic shit, my man. Saddam wanted pictures of himself everywhere, not God.
posted by The God Complex at 3:25 AM on October 23, 2004

From the first link: Asked if their households had been hurt by violence, injuries, death or monetary loss over the past year, only 22 percent of those questioned said yes -- a figure that surprised pollsters and U.S. officials.

That's a terrible statistic to be pleasantly surprised by.
posted by pots at 3:57 AM on October 23, 2004

fleener, my scarcasm detector is down for repairs: You're kidding, right? I doubt that W is pulling the troops out anytime soon, and if somehow Kerry is elected instead, any withdrawal will be rather slow in coming. I understand we're in the process of building bases and other infrastructure, and there's always "our" oil to consider.

W & Co. prosecuted this war to in part to create a stable democracy, so they might as well shut up and get used to it if the Iraqi people picks one they don't like.
posted by alumshubby at 6:56 AM on October 23, 2004

I think fleener meant after the Iraqi election. If they elect the wrong guy, we take our ball and go home. Then the insurgents can topple the newly elected govt, and reinstate Saddam, or Osama, or whoever.
posted by bashos_frog at 9:00 AM on October 23, 2004

They really didn't think this thru at all, did they?


The last year and a half of foreign news in a nutshell
posted by matteo at 9:22 AM on October 23, 2004

If they elect the wrong guy, we take our ball and go home.

What, and leave all that oil??

Gee, imagine if a stable theo/democracy emerged, things settled down, and Iraqi oil became a stable export product. Could be about as close to a happy ending as that very troubled land could hope for.
posted by alumshubby at 10:32 AM on October 23, 2004

This is interesting: A significant part of the insurgents' money is coming from sympathizers in Saudi Arabia, and the Saudi government is neglecting the problem, said the official, who was authorized by the Pentagon to speak on the issue this week, but only on condition of anonymity.
posted by amberglow at 1:14 PM on October 23, 2004

It worked in Afghanistan, didn't it?
Actually, that's still up in the air.
posted by amberglow at 1:36 PM on October 23, 2004

Actually, that's still up in the air.

Hah. Wouldn't that be funny.
posted by The God Complex at 2:31 PM on October 23, 2004