Opinionline: Iraq vote: Time for relief or worry?

Mar 12, 2010 — USA Today

Iraq vote: Time for relief or worry?

What people are saying about Iraq elections

Los Angeles Times, in an editorial: "When the history of the U.S. war in Iraq is written, Sunday's parliamentary election may well provide the final chapter. The national vote in which minority Sunni Arabs cast ballots along with Shiites and ethnic Kurds could be a marker for the end of the seven-year war, although not for the end of the nation's sectarian conflict. ... Iraqis want and deserve control over their own future. We hope that a new government will strengthen democratic institutions and the rule of law while providing new opportunities to resolve some of the country's longstanding problems. ... The United States should offer counsel when asked and, otherwise, stand back and wish them wisdom in governing."

San Francisco Chronicle, in an editorial: "For Americans, the vote has another message: There's no stopping a scheduled drawdown of U.S. troops this summer. President Obama, committed to the phased withdrawal, said the vote 'demonstrates that the Iraqi people have chosen to shape their future through the political process.' ... Despite Obama's proud words, his team must be anxious. As American troops depart, the infant democracy will be tested - and left on its own by the end of next year. The 90,000 American troops are due to drop by half later this year with full pullout at the end of (2011). ... Iraq's voters ... want to turn the page. Now begins the hard work of fulfilling that wish."

Jeff Jacoby, columnist, The Boston Globe: "Iraqis have paid a steep price for their burgeoning young democracy; tens of thousands of lives were wiped out in the horrific insurgency that followed the ouster of Saddam Hussein. Perhaps that awful butcher's bill explains the fervor with which Iraqis have embraced democratic self-governance. In Sunday's elections, 6,200 candidates representing 86 political parties contended to fill 325 seats in parliament. (Would that our own congressional elections were so competitive.) Such democratic passion would be impressive anywhere. To see it flourish in one of the world's most dangerous and undemocratic neighborhoods is ... heroic."

Austin Bay, columnist, on RealClearPolitics: "Given Iraq's democratic promise, the external threats it faces and its internal fragility, the Obama administration must reconsider its 'hard and fast' withdrawal timetable for combat forces. The turmoil in neighboring Iran ... is reason enough for Obama to offer to amend his August deadline. There are other issues as well, such as ensuring adequate defense of Iraqi air space. ... Treating the Iraqis as allies capable of assessing changing conditions would be truly smart diplomacy. Iraq needs a reliable American partner, and to promote genuine peace in the Middle East, America sorely needs a democratic Iraqi ally."

Thomas Friedman, columnist, The New York Times: "Former president George W. Bush's gut instinct that this region craved and needed democracy was always right. It should have and could have been pursued with much better planning and execution. ... Some argue that nothing that happens in Iraq will ever justify the costs. ... Personally, at this stage, I only care about one thing: that the outcome in Iraq be positive enough and forward-looking enough that those who have actually paid the price - in lost loved ones or injured bodies, in broken homes or broken lives, be they Iraqis or Americans or Brits - see Iraq evolve into something that will enable them to say that whatever the cost, it has given freedom and decent government to people who had none."

(Counting votes: An Iraqi government staffer sorts ballots Wednesday from Sunday's elections./Muhannad Fala'ah, Getty Images.)