Brendan at Stand Down asks some interesting questions about the Iraqi elections:
The key question are these. Amidst all the prattling about influences of ‘foreign powers’ the influence of one very important foreign power has been minimised.
But there are important questions to be asked.
- Will the US be allowed to channel funds to its preferred candidate(s)? (ie. Allawi).
- Current UN resolution 1546 states unequivocally that the current mandate for the ‘multi-national force’ expires in June next year, and that in order to prolong this mandate this has to be done via the Iraqi government, such as it is. The mechanism for how this might be the case, however, has not been made clear, and the question remains; will a simple majority of Iraqi parties/politicians suffice to pass a motion to ask the troops to leave, or will minority parties be able to halt any such move?
- Where do the Kurds stand in all this? Will it be legal for the troops to be asked to leave the rest of Iraq, but not Kurdistan?
I have a couple more questions. In light of this:
“This election, for me, will be the happiest moment in my life, because it means we will end the occupation,” said Ahmad al-Asadi, who sells mobile phones from a little store alongside the Kadhimiya mosque, a Shiite shrine.
That’s how Shiite leaders are pitching the vote: as a chance to end America’s military presence in Iraq peacefully, through the ballot box. It also is a chance for Iraq’s long-downtrodden Shiites, who account for 60 percent of the population, to throw off centuries of oppression by the Sunni minority and take a commanding role in the country’s government.
What is the US planning to do when the Shiites either 1) Vote for the troops to get out, or 2) Rise up in frustrated anger when they find out the US has some sort of plan to block the new parliament from asking them to leave? What will the Kurds do if the Shiites tell the US to get out?
Another question: What if the Shiites declare Basra the capital of the New Iraq? Why would they want it to be in Baghdad, after all? Is there any law that says that the capital of Iraq must be Baghdad, smack in the center of the resistance? Basra would be so much more convenient for the majority Shia, and much easier to secure. What’s left in Baghdad that qualifies it as the capital, the American Embassy Fortress in the Green Zone? So what?