LIVING IN EXCITING TIMES:

Democracy from scratch:
One Baghdad neighborhood's halting steps toward self-rule (Howard LaFranchi, 12/05/03, The Christian Science Monitor )

"The good Lord knows we've screwed this thing up from the get-go, but He also knows every one of us has our heart in the right place, and I think the Iraqis feel that, too," says Maj. Paul Gass, a tireless liaison between the Sadr district council and the American authorities. "We all want to help the Iraqis build something better than what they're coming out of, that's why it can be so upsetting when there's a setback. Sometimes it can seem so slow going."

In Baghdad, American authorities created nine district councils like Sadr City's, with representatives sent by 88 neighborhood advisory councils. The district councils, in turn, sent representatives to the Baghdad City Advisory Council to work with the American administration, under US administrator Paul Bremer, on everything from creating a new Baghdad police force to refurbishing schools and collecting trash. Similar advisory councils have been set up across the country.

But the underlying idea behind a pyramidic local-governance system - in Baghdad's case, one involving more than 800 Iraqi representatives - is to instill the principles of representative democracy in a country accustomed to dictatorship.

"The point of these councils is to move the country from a top-down system where everything was ordered and based on oppression to one where ordinary Iraqis take on the task of representing citizens, not controlling them," says Imad Jonaby, an Iraqi-American assigned by the Research Triangle Institute (RTI), contracted by the Pentagon, to work on governance issues in Sadr City. "It's a test for democracy. Can it work here?" he asks.

In Sadr City, the district council is beginning to tackle some key local issues, like price gouging by propane cooking-gas distributors, sewage service, and school security. But at the meeting last week to elect a new chairman, progress seems slow. After a moment of silence for the fallen chairman, council members hear a long apology for Kaabi's death.

Calling the killing a "tragic event," Maj. George Sarabia tells the council that Kaabi's death "represents a great loss for the family, the community, and the people of Iraq." The director of community relations and psychological operations for the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment camped at Sadr City goes on to say that, while an investigation into the death is ongoing, "I can assure you the coalition is moving toward a fair settlement."

Then Major Sarabia, a gentle Texan from Houston, reminds the council members - who range from tribal leaders in robes and headdress to shop owners and teachers - that even while the investigation continues, they have work to do. "The welfare of more than 2 million people depends on the leadership in this room," he says. "It's very important [that your] voice represents the needs of Sadr City."

Before the election of a new chairman, Major Gass reads from a new citywide procedural manual that gives the steps of the nomination and election processes. The University of Houston teacher and resident of Humble, Texas, pauses frequently to allow an interpreter to repeat in Arabic the rules of order he is explaining. By the end of the session, a new chairman has been elected, and the council chamber - a stark room with plastic patio chairs - has been named in honor of the fallen Kaabi.

Yet despite the small steps, some see progress. Farhan Gabbar is one member who finds the council system "a good experience for the Iraqi people." Uncomplaining as he sits in a sliver of an office poring over job applications with only a small window behind him for light, Mr. Gabbar says, "It's a new kind of democracy, something unknown but exciting for us."

Perhaps your view of the war ultimately depends on whether you think it will have been worthwhile to provide these folks the opportunity to build a democratic society, even if they fail.

Meanwhile, if critics are right and it was all about the oil, we won already.

Posted by Orrin Judd at December 4, 2003 06:53 PM