Post Iraqi Elections News and Analysis Roundup: Every party grumpy, but content...

» Lawhawk - Every party grumpy, but content...

http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedco...

Dismiss the media nonsense about the Sunni Arab failure to participate invalidating the elections. The Sunni Arabs know they blew it. Their most promising politicians are maneuvering for a role in writing the new constitution. And the Shi'as and Kurds will bring key Sunni Arabs into the process. They know their society better than the pundits do.

You can also disregard the warnings that Iraq will turn into another Iran. Ain't going to happen. The Grand Ayatollah Sistani, Iraq's most revered figure, is well aware that Iran's theocracy has failed miserably — tarnishing the faith he loves. As a result, Sistani has set a rational course that will endure beyond his death.

The constitution may end up with more strictures than we like. But the odds are that the document will be a sensible compromise — with every party grumpy, but content. Clerics will have influence, but won't rule.

Much can still go wrong, of course. But the prophets of doom were mistaken about the war, about the insurgency's appeal, and about the enthusiasm of the Iraqis for elections. There's no reason to believe that their critiques of the election results are any wiser.

And the critics seem determined to ignore the most encouraging outcome of all: No Iraqi voting bloc handed power to fanatics or demagogues.

Arabs and Kurds alike chose coalitions, not rigid parties. Kurds put longstanding rivalries aside, while Shi'as voted for a range of interests under two umbrella organizations. And while the United Iraqi Alliance drew almost half of the votes, it may not even survive to the next election.

Peters may be overzealous in thinking that the parties will be grumpy but content. We see in our own political system in the US that grumpy doesn't quite define the Democratic party these days. Angry, hostile, radicalized - those are more appropriate terms for the firebrands leading the party these days, but that's missing in Iraq.

One reason for that may simply be that the Iraqis are far more pragmatic and realistic than a certain political party in the US.

-- posted by Lawhawk