The new Iraq

Normblog carries quotes from an article in Prospect magazine (subscriptions necessary) which quotes the author Bartle Bull, who has reported on Iraq for the New York Times, as wondering if media were hoping for the failure of the election in Iraq. These are very telling extracts, which should be studied by anyone on the left who wishes to understand the new situation in Iraq after the elections: “.....The huge turnout has cemented the new Iraqi state as an accomplished fact, and Muqtada and the radical Sunni political groups have shifted their rhetoric to make demands within the new paradigm. It is a momentous shift. No longer is everything illegitimate.” And “.....A process has been unleashed that now has very little to do with America and with our opinions about US power. The process is in the hands of a people who on 30th January showed that they have what freedom requires: deep reserves of patience, tolerance and courage.”