United States officials were surprised and heartened today at the size of turnout in [the] election despite a … terrorist campaign to disrupt the voting.
According to reports…, 83 per cent of the 5.85 million registered voters cast their ballots yesterday. Many of them risked reprisals…
Iraq in 2005? No… that was a Vietnam in 1967, as reported nearly 40 years ago by the New York Times. (Thanks to the folks at Daily Kos for digging up this gem.)
The Bush administration didn’t settle on its reason for invading Iraq until well after the invasion. First it was Saddam’s close connection to Osama and 9/11 (there was no connection.) Then it was the imminent threat of “weapons of mass destruction” (we never found any.) Eventually, establishing democracy became the rhetorical centerpiece of Bush’s Iraq policy.
To argue that Bush didn’t lie to the nation and the world in selling this war, requires believing that our intelligence services were criminally incompetent, and the administration incoherent at best. Thousands of American soldiers and innocent Iraqis have died as a result.
Let’s hope that the Iraqi democracy fares better than Vietnam’s, and that some lasting good can come out of the death and destruction our tax dollars have reigned down on the region.
Thanks you right wingers and AM radio ranters for your over the top attacks:
Gregoire receives death threat
OLYMPIA, Wash. — The Washington State Patrol is keeping close watch over both Gov. Christine Gregoire and her Republican rival, Dino Rossi, after Gregoire received a death threat and emotions over the contested election continue to run high.
Gregoire told reporters today she received a death threat and that she plans to keep a lid on publicizing her movements outside the heavily guarded Capitol and Governor’s Mansion.
Rossi has around-the-clock protection.
“I’m going to honor it when the chief of the state patrol says that for my personal security, we need to maintain some procedures,” Gregoire said, referring to the blackout on releasing a detailed schedule.
“Give me six months. Allow me these six months.”
She said she got a death threat, but added: “I’m not going to be deterred by any of that. I got death threats, frankly, when I was attorney general. I’ve got a job to do, but I’m also going to be smart (about security considerations). I owe that to the citizens of the state and I will listen to the chief of the state patrol.”
She said blamed “the level of discussion on some of these talk radio shows” for whipping up people.
Goldy,
You are pathetically on the wrong side of history dude. Yeah for the tyrants! Yeah for the torturers! Bring back Saddam. Three cheers for Ho Chi Minh! Pol Pot is our man. Killing fields!? Torture chambers!? To hell with these purple fingered Iraqi voters. We’re the liberal Democrats. We’re the ones who fight for human rights and dignity. It’s sick man, it’s really sick. We hate George Bush! We hate: ‘WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS SELF EVIDENT…’ We hate the fact that this might actually succeed. Not a good word. Not one Damn good word!
paul daniel
Goldy,
Paul’s 100% troll, and the similarity with the Vietnamese election is scary, but I’ve got to say that I’m really annoyed at people who pooh-pooh the Iraqi election.
It’s too early to see if the elections will in fact achieve their goals (a democratic Iraq), but it pisses me off when people dis the achievement.
We should have never gone into Iraq, but once we toppled the government there, we’ve got an obligation to make it better.
And realistically, a democratic Iraq is far better than an Iraq in the midst of a civil war.
So congratulate the Iraqi’s and wish them the best of luck.
Even if it does mean giving some credit to President Bush.
Whew…all in a dither aren’t we Paul?
Back to topic, I’ve seen this Vietnam vote around a couple of sites on the net for a couple of days. I’m glad the comparison is being drawn as those of us that lived through that era are literally reliving history to date.
Hopefully the Iran situation won’t prove to be as utter a waste as the Vietnam one…the people in both those countries are just like us. I suspect the vast majority simply want all the warring to go away and let them lead their lives.
Good for them they got to vote. They now have a taste of it. Let’s see if they’re willing to disrupt their everyday lives enough to take up arms against their kind to keep it, or if their thirst for democracy is just a figment of our delusion.
Paul @ 2
Do you actually bother to read my blog, or do you just knee-jerk attack in response? What did I say? That I hoped the Iraqi democracy survives, and that some good comes out of this war.
Though it still doesn’t change the fact that we went to war based on lies. (WMVs)
We went into Iraq, and now we’ll be there for many years to come. Even when Iraqi forces have trained and equipped to the point where they are able to respond to internal strife (and in the face of rampant corruption that we get to pay for) they will still be a long way from being able to secure thier own borders. They need not only police, but a national army as well. Meanwhile, we pay the bills (haven’t heard much about the oil revenue lately).
What a mess. We’re stuck for a long while. And it’s all due to the arrogance and deception of the Bush administration. Meanwhile, we can’t maintain our own schools and transportation systems.
Whoo hoo, democracy in Iraq. Or something. Maybe demo-theocracy. And we get to foot the bill. Boy, freedom sure is neat!
We should have let Saddam get taken out by his own people, which surely would have happened. Of course, Haliburton wouldn’t have gotten quite so many contracts that way.
I do want the Iraqi people to have their freedom and I kvelled at the pictures of those ink-stained fingers after their election. But if Bush comes out of this smelling like a rose, I, like John Stewart, will IMPLODE.
Goldy – WMVs? Isn’t that some kind of Windows Media/Video format? I think we actually found some of those in Iraq.
(yes, I know it was a typo, just having some fun on a Friday).
I too hope Democracy is a success in Iraq. Unfortunately, the early “rosy” picture of high-voter turnout isn’t turning out to be accurate. Looks like few Sunnis voted, few women voted and voter turnout hovered between 5 and 10%. A start, certainly, but not even as good as the Palestinians recent steps towards representative democracy.
http://dailykos.com/story/2005/2/4/11753/50824
I think it’s sad that the insurgents are threatened by people voting, and frightened many into staying home. But it’s our duty to protect the Iraqis (at least right now), and we haven’t done a good job in making their country safe for every day life.
Paul @ 2
Perhaps studying history before accusing another of being on the wrong side of it would be a good idea. Ho Chi Minh was very popular with the Vietnamese, and would easily have won the election scheduled but not allowed to take place in the 1950s, to unify the north and south. He was no saint, to be sure, but then neither were many of those who led in our own civil war.
On Iraq, most Democrats I know are hopeful, but not confident, that the election will, as Kerry put it, “change the dynamic” there. At this point, anything that will help to stop the bleeding, and get our troops out of there sooner rather than later, is a good thing. But I wouldn’t be looking for a pro-US government there anytime soon.
Paul @ 2 – Last time I checked all the wingnuts were suffering disc hernias from bending so far backwards to justify the torturers in the U.S. military and the lawyer who tried to sell the idea that sodomizing people with lightsticks, etc. is OK. (You know, the one who’s now Attorney General … and you thought Ashcroft was over the top?). Seems to me it’s over the top for anyone who voted for this administration to be comparing anybody else with thugs or torturers, given your track record of enabling same.
Larry @ 3
Yeah, I totally agree with our sentiments Larry, but I’m not as optimistic as you. Iraq has “civil war” written all over it. Three tribes with different religions who hate each other’s guts. No tradition of democracy, long tradition of strife. Bad vibes.
RDC @ 9,
You’re exactly right about Ho Chi Minh, he was an extremely popular nationalist figure.However, there are no popular nationalist figures like him in Iraq who are currently fighting against the U.S. This points out the fact that Goldy’s comparison of Iraq to Vietnam is really a poor one. The differences between the two are far greater than any similarities. My rant about Ho Chi Minh, Poll Pot and the rest was nothing more than a nice bit of hyperble with the intention of making a point(i.e the pessimist who who border on cheering for failure because they hate Bush and can’t stand to think that he will claim credit if Iraq is a success).
To Don @ 10. Most people I know find the U.S. Iraqi prison scandle to be fairly disturbing and disgusting. We just don’t happen to think that this represents in anyway the vast majority of the U.S. Military serving there. We also understand there is a bit of a difference between putting underwear on someones head and cutting their frigging head off with a butcher knife!
paul daniel
Don @ 11: Maybe you’re right – I’ll admit that it may turn out badly.
But I’m not willing to state that the elections were a sham like I’ve heard some Democrats saying (McDermott and Kennedy come to mind off the top of my head).