Iraq, Elections, and the Future

The first thing peaceful elections provide of course is legitimacy.  The passing of the elections for over 200 positions without reports violence can provide us with the assurance that the majority of Iraqis will not protest the authority of this new government as they try to rebuild this country and restore order and security to Iraq.

These elections also bring a sense of purpose. The elections four years ago in Iraq were the first democratic elections in a long time, and that in itself was a milestone achievement – could not ask for much more than that.  This second election now opens the possibilities to pursue more goals or objectives beyond simply having a peaceful eleciton.  Now work on the Iraq’s social and economic problems can begin, as the goal of democratic elections have already been achieved.  The government can set their sights on loftier goals and ambitions.

These elections brings about the ideas of progress.  There was no short list of candidates for the many positions across the country of Iraq, totaling well into the thousands.  I have to assume that the effort put in to voting the small minority from this cadre into office was based on the hope that they could lead Iraqis in a new direction.  Thus you have to expect their to be some ideas and beliefs that Iraq can progress beyond its history of violence, division, and societal hardships.

These elections bring about possibility.  In the eyes of the Iraqis, this possibility may be the possibility of a functioning authority with the capacity to create and enforce the laws of Iraq.  For the U.S. the possibility lies in the prospect of effective withdrawal from Iraq.  It has been iterated by President Obama that he plans to tactically reallocate forces from Iraq to Afghanistan.  The peaceful elections could signal the turning point which makes this reallocation an effective policy and one well welcomed after the Iraq War and War on Terror has left a bad taste in American’ mouths.  

In the coming months, it will be critical for the Iraqi government to organize itself and immediately establish itself as a stand alone instrument of authority in Iraq that will not be dependent on the presence of foreign influence to provide security.