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February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
Feb. 7, 2005
/ 28 Shevat, 5765
Cheers for the Iraqi voters, but a bitter taste lingers
By
Leonard Pitts Jr.
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Last year, the New York Times reported a statistical breakdown of terrorist attacks in Iraq that left my jaw hanging. According to these figures, that nation was sustaining about 2,300 such strikes a month. That works out to 76 bombings, shootings, mortar attacks and landmine explosions "every day" in a nation about the size of California.
If I lived in a place that suffered that much mayhem, I don't know that I'd feel comfortable even standing in line for groceries, much less standing in line to "vote."
One can only be awed, then, at the guts shown by millions of Iraqi men and women who defied both terrorist threats and pessimistic projections this week to participate in that nation's first free election in five decades. The most conservative estimate of voter turnout I've seen puts it at 60 percent. It's a number that should uplift us — and shame us, too, given that we live in a nation where nobody has to brave bullets to cast ballots, but turnout in most presidential elections hovers around 50 percent.
Yet after you finish thanking the Iraqis for this modern-day profile in courage, the question remains: what next? What does this mean, not simply for the Iraqis, but for us?
A few days ago, I posed that question to a colleague, a veteran observer of international affairs. He made an interesting point. What matters, he said, is not Iraq's first free election, but its second. Point being, the test of a nascent democracy is not just its ability to let its people vote, but to do it again, to transfer power in an orderly and peaceful fashion.
Nor is that the only unknown. There is also the question of whether Iraq's Sunni minority will regard the election's outcome as credible. The Sunnis voted at significantly lower rates than the rest of the nation, both because the areas where they live are strongholds of insurgent violence and because Sunni leaders called for a boycott of the balloting. If Sunnis do not respect the outcome of the vote, Iraq's next step could be a lurch toward civil war.
For all those uncertainties, though, the one that troubles me most isn't about what happens there, but what happens here. Meaning the danger that the White House will regard the success of the Iraq vote as a validation of its decision to invade that country.
Given that the administration is prone to picking and choosing facts the way some people do daisies, that's hardly a far-fetched idea. Consider how it has repeatedly changed its rationale for war while behaving, with a sincerity that is positively Orwellian, as if it has changed nothing at all.
The war was about a search for weapons of mass destruction until that didn't work out and it became mainly a war about fighting terrorism, until it was repeatedly pointed out that Iraq had no documented connection to the Sept. 11 attacks and it became mainly a war to liberate a tyrannized people.
Change your rationale often enough and eventually, you'll find one that sticks.
So on the likelihood the White House will consider itself vindicated by the Iraq vote, let me say something that ought not need saying: heartening as that vote is, it does not change the circumstances under which we stumbled to war, does not change the pattern of misstatement, overstatement and willful self-deception that has thus far cost 1,400 American lives and an untold number of Iraqi lives. Nor does it change the fact that this was the wrong war at the wrong time because it did not serve the most vital issue of national interest. It did not make us safer from terrorism.
Of course, at this point, there's no turning back. Now that we're in it, we need to win it, so the success of this week's vote is a good thing.
Still, as you watch the conga line snaking through the West Wing, it's worth remembering that adage about wringing something sweet out of something sour.
This week's lemonade might be tasty, but there are still plenty of lemons left.
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© 2005 The Miami Herald
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