Ousted Baghdad mayor says gun, not vote, rules Iraq

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/GEO235562.htm

BAGHDAD, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Baghdad's former mayor, ousted by force this week, said on Friday the new Iraq had degenerated into a militia state ruled by the gun and not the ballot box.

"I was elected. I had dreams. Then I was removed in a coup by gunmen. This is very bad. Acts like these set a dangerous precedent for a country that wants to be democratic," Alaa al-Tamimi told Reuters in a telephone interview.

"Elected officials are just removed by force. We live in a militia state even with American troops here. Imagine when they leave. It will be worse than Saddam Hussein's time."

Tamimi, chosen from a shortlist by city notables under the supervision of the U.S. military occupiers in 2003, said 120 gunmen took over his office on Monday. They installed Hussein al-Tahhan, a rival local official and a member of one of the main Islamist Shi'ite parties leading the government, as mayor.

[sabra]

1. The US has lost Baghdad. Will this trend spread through out?

[shadowknows69]

3. Why haven't we defended our fledgling democracy

in Iraq and reinstalled this guy?

[sabra]

4. Essentially they don't care!

At the press gaggle a few days a reporter asked about this, and the response, was "uh.. don't know about that one, will have to look into that". WTF?

[Kagemusha]

2. The story I got from Juan Cole's site was

the fact that SCIRI (sp) won the provincial governorship gave it the right to name a new mayor i.e. the mayor is not simply locally elected and that's that. They did use the gun to underline and render non-negotiable their choice, however, and that was pretty crude of them. But the ballot box DID give them the right to depose him. Just not with the power of the gun.

They really buy into Mao's dictum over there.. and this is a bad, bad sign, however technically legal it may be.

[VegasWolf]

5. The mayor ousted! Bush better hurry or he might not get to kill Saddam!!

[The_Casual_Observer]

6. "It will be worse than Saddam Hussein's time"

Thus spake the ex-mayor of Baghdad. Put that one in your pipe neocon bastards.

[Supersedeas]

7. Democracy at gunpt is hard werk for chickenhawks; bloody work for our

bravest and brightest

[leftchick]

8. Ousted Baghdad mayor says gun, not vote, rules Iraq

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/GEO235562.htm

BAGHDAD, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Baghdad's former mayor, ousted by force this week, said on Friday the new Iraq had degenerated into a militia state ruled by the gun and not the ballot box.

~snip~

"Elected officials are just removed by force. We live in a militia state even with American troops here. Imagine when they leave. It will be worse than Saddam Hussein's time."

Tamimi, chosen from a shortlist by city notables under the supervision of the U.S. military occupiers in 2003, said 120 gunmen took over his office on Monday. They installed Hussein al-Tahhan, a rival local official and a member of one of the main Islamist Shi'ite parties leading the government, as mayor.

Tamimi said he was not present when the gunmen occupied his office. Fearful for his life, he said he was living under U.S. protection and declined to say where he was speaking from.

[BattyDem]

9. "It will be worse than Saddam Hussein's time."

That's just great ... we now have the distinction of leaving a country worse off than when it was controlled by an evil, vicious dictator! :grr:

[louis-t]

10. Keeps saying he was 'elected'

I thought Bremer appointed him.

[leftchick]

11. he did

it is american style democracy after all.

[goodhue]

12. "When Saddam was here we had one bad person. Now we have thousands . . . "

"When Saddam was here we had one bad person. Now we have thousands running around with militias."

* * *

"When they removed the governor of Samawa, Jaafari sent a delegation to rescue him. I was removed by gunmen because I am a secular technocrat with no ties to SCIRI and not backed by a militia," said Tamimi.

"This is terrible for Iraq. It means any future elections will mean nothing because gunmen can just walk into any office and remove and install whoever they want."

[geckosfeet]

13. Iraq is a disaster. Complete and utter face down in the dirt disaster. nt