WHILE IT'S CERTAINLY TOUCHING...

Democratic dawn in Iraq: Polling was peaceful, the results encouraging. We could yet be looking at a model for Arab states (William Shawcross, 2/03/09, The Guardian)

Iraq's polity is still fragile. Parliamentary elections later this year will be another test of whether the horrific inter-Islamic violence of recent years is over. The country is still far from united and its infrastructure still needs massive investment. But there are now real grounds to hope that Iraqis are finally on track to creating a far more decent society than they have ever had. This would never have been possible without the US-led overthrow of the psychotic Saddam family.

There were lamentable failures in the subsequent US occupation, which allowed the rise of the hideous sectarian violence that threatened to tear the country to pieces. But in the last two years the "surge" of US troops under General David Petraeus appears to have destroyed much of the terrorists' infrastructure and support. Now, as US troops begin their phased withdrawal, the new American-trained Iraqi army is defending the country against Islamist violence.

There will be further setbacks. But who knows, Iraq may yet even become a model for democratic change in other Arab countries. If so, who deserves some credit? The much maligned President Bush. And Tony Blair.

...that good men like Mr. Shawcross, Mr. Bush, and Mr. Blair imagined that the Sunni would willingly accept minority status in a Shi'a Iraq, it was always unlikely. The sectarian violence against the Sunni is the basis for the peace and political development.

Posted by Orrin Judd at February 3, 2009 8:42 PM