Iraq's choice and voting here

There's no denying that the Iraq war is prompting people on the left to rethink whether they can vote Labour at all. Some contemplate voting Liberal Democrat whilst others will vote for Respect or not vote at all. A book, “So who do we vote for?" outlining such debates has been written by John Harris.

He summarises the Iraq problem for such left-wingers: "Moreover, the pro-war faction's endless trumpeting of the fall of Saddam and their idiotically rhetorical question to those who were opposed – Do you want him back? – hardly nullify the sense of a monumental set of errors. If Bush and Blair's statecraft led to the future of Iraq being whittled down to a choice between Ba'athist dictatorship and blood-spattered anarchy, then the accusation of howling political failure still sticks, a fact only underlined by their lamentable neglect of the Middle East peace process."

The book was probably written last year and released quite recently but already feels worn out.

The choice that over 8 million Iraqis made at the election was to go for a process that aims to end the anarchy and build a democracy. Attacks are declining but the insurgents can still deliver death. But there are also signs that the more biddable elements of the insurgency are willing to negotiate and that Sunni groups regret their boycott of the elections and wish to participate in the process.

It's early days yet and they may fail, not least if the international labour movement fails to lift its finger and provide huge solidarity to the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions and other civil society groups which are trying to cement democracy.

As for the Middle East peace process, it is now easier to see that this was held up, in part, by the huge errors of Yasser Arafat's leadership and that his successor may have the ability to negotiate a lasting peace with the Israelis based on a viable Palestinian State and Israeli security. And we are seeing the beginnings of potentially huge changes elsewhere in the Middle East which could boost democracy and thereby make a lasting settlement more likely. Again, one should not be panglossian. Decades of bitterness and oppression aren't going to be removed overnight. (Gary Kent)