congratulations to the Iraqis

[leftofthedial]

however many of them voted

even if the vote was a sham or illegal under international law

even if the choices were all tainted by the Murkan occupation


Democracy is an innately wonderful thing and I congratulate the Iraqis for practicing it.

[cthrumatrix]

1. it would democracy if they got thier wish for Americans to leave ....

the sooner the better

But...those 14 army bases tell us that perhaps thier wish is not so close

[leftofthedial]

2. PNAC doesn't want to leave

we went there to stay more or less permanently

let's see how resolute the Iraqi people are about directing their own future

for now, though, at least they voted.

[robbedvoter]

3. Ugh, even if the vote was for a Constitution which would allow

privatization of their resources for Halliburton&co? FYI, there was nothing wrong with their constitution.

[WrtMandamus]

4. I agree

They're braver than I am! No way I'd brave bullets or suicide bombers to vote.

[Jacobin]

5. Careful you don't fall for another "Mission Accomplished" Moment

http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/nytimes/results.html?st=adv...

Here is what has been posted on Daily Kos:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/1/31/2335/87390

***

U.S. Encouraged by Vietnam Vote:
Officials Cite 83% Turnout Despite Vietcong Terror

by Peter Grose, Special to the New York Times (9/4/1967: p. 2)

WASHINGTON, Sept. 3-- United States officials were surprised and heartened today at the size of turnout in South Vietnam's presidential election despite a Vietcong terrorist campaign to disrupt the voting.

According to reports from Saigon, 83 per cent of the 5.85 million registered voters cast their ballots yesterday. Many of them risked reprisals threatened by the Vietcong.

The size of the popular vote and the inability of the Vietcong to destroy the election machinery were the two salient facts in a preliminary assessment of the nation election based on the incomplete returns reaching here.


Pending more detailed reports, neither the State Department nor the White House would comment on the balloting or the victory of the military candidates, Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Van Thieu, who was running for president, and Premier Nguyen Cao Ky, the candidate for vice president.

A successful election has long been seen as the keystone in President Johnson's policy of encouraging the growth of constitutional processes in South Vietnam. The election was the culmination of a constitutional development that began in January, 1966, to which President Johnson gave his personal commitment when he met Premier Ky and General Thieu, the chief of state, in Honolulu in February.

The purpose of the voting was to give legitimacy to the Saigon Government, which has been founded only on coups and power plays since November, 1963, when President Ngo Dinh Deim was overthrown by a military junta.

Few members of that junta are still around, most having been ousted or exiled in subsequent shifts of power.

Significance Not Diminished

The fact that the backing of the electorate has gone to the generals who have been ruling South Vietnam for the last two years does not, in the Administration's view, diminish the significance of the constitutional step that has been taken.

The hope here is that the new government will be able to maneuver with a confidence and legitimacy long lacking in South Vietnamese politics. That hope could have been dashed either by a small turnout, indicating widespread scorn or a lack of interest in constitutional development, or by the Vietcong's disruption of the balloting.

American officials had hoped for an 80 per cent turnout. That was the figure in the election in September for the Constituent Assembly. Seventy-eight per cent of the registered voters went to the polls in elections for local officials last spring.

Before the results of the presidential election started to come in, the American officials warned that the turnout might be less than 80 per cent because the polling place would be open for two or three hours less than in the election a year ago. The turnout of 83 per cent was a welcome surprise. The turnout in the 1964 United States Presidential election was 62 per cent.

Captured documents and interrogations indicated in the last week a serious concern among Vietcong leaders that a major effort would be required to render the election meaningless. This effort has not succeeded, judging from the reports from Saigon.

[leftofthedial]

6. notice I didn't congratulate the Murkan occupiers

nor the ruling Iraqi puppet gummint

I congratulated the Iraqis on their exercise of the closest thing they have to the democratic process.

If Murkans were threatened with physical violence at polling places, turnout here would be nil.

The invasion was a war crime. The occupation is illegal and has been marked by a continuation of war crimes. The election was a show and a PR event.

Still, I congratulate the Iraqis who participated.

Careful you don't throw out the baby with the bathwater.

[ThorsHammer]

10. Well said (nt)

[Carolab]

7. They had no choice, really.

If they wanted to eat.

[Squall]

8. I share the sentiment

And I hope, if nothing else, this starts that history of democracy in Iraq. Successful democracies need a history of democracy to build on, and if no strongman takes over, this might be a good start.

[robbedvoter]

9. FYI: Iraqis have been "voting" before the murikan help

So were people in communist countries and other dictatorships. Not much worse than the last elections in US - except there people were aware it was just a farce.
To write this is patronizing and ignorant. Almost as arrogant as W's

"I believe that people whose skins aren't necessarily, you know, are a different color than white, can self-govern."