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Large Turnout in Iraq Vote — Another Victory for Bush Doctrine

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Even if Iraqi voters don’t approve the Constitution in today’s vote, the large turnout is still a huge victory for the Bush doctrine. Until our troops liberated that land from Saddam’s tyranny, these people had no say over their government. By turning out in droves to vote in today’s referendum, Iraqis showed that they recognize how their country has changed since coalition troops came two and a half years ago.
According to a curious AP article:

Sunni Arabs voted in surprisingly high numbers on Iraq’s new constitution Saturday, many of them hoping to defeat it in an intense competition with Shiites and Kurds over the shape of the nation’s young democracy after decades of dictatorship. With little violence, turnout was more than 66 percent in the three most crucial provinces.

I call the article curious because it begins by noting the opposition to the constitution. At least the headline did acknowledge the “large turnout.” What makes the piece even curioser is the last line where the reporter seems to have looked all over Iraq to find one of the few Shia who longs for “someone like Saddam.” But, since even this guy acknowledged that he was a small minority among Shi’ites, it seems the reporter could have ended the piece by showing support for the charter among this group.
Despite the reporter’s curious spin at the end of his piece, the large turnout represents a big victory for the Bush doctrine. Even if Iraqis don’t approve the charter, the Iraqi people recognize that, even with American troops in their country, they can participate in the political process and vote against a measure favored by what many on the left define as an imperialist occupying force.
-Dan (AKA GayPatriotWest): GayPatriotWest@aol.com
UPDATE: Violence is down this time as well. Over at GOP Vixen (where I occasionally blog as Wordluf), my pal Dirty Harry notes there were fewer terrorist attacks during today’s elections than during the elections last January, “13 vs. 347.” Now read the whole thing!
UP-UPDATE: Despite the adminstration’s errors of communication in this fight, Manos finds that the Iraq fight was “worth it.” I agree. He also thinks we should put this vote in the “proper historical context“:

The United States invaded another country not for riches or gold or conquest but to spread ideas. Liberals from earlier generations, who went to war against fascism in Spain in the 1930’s, would have supported this war.

Now that I’ve whet your appetite, read the whole thing! Hat tip: Instapundit.
UP-UP-UPDATE (also via Instapundit): More historical perspective at Gateway Pundit on the time it takes a war-torn nation to ratify a new constitution. Seems that in historical terms, they’re working pretty quickly in Iraq.
UP-UP-UP-UPDATE: An expression of our failure in Iraq? (via: Polipundit).
UP-UP-UP-UP-UPDATE: Gateway Pundit offers some pictures from Saturday’s vote that you are unlikely to see in the MSM, including one of Iraqi women waiting to vote while holding pictures of our president and theirs. Seems some Iraqis do appreciate the good that President Bush has done for their land. (Via Powerline.)

The German Election Mess and the Relative (compared to 1983) Irrelevance of the Result

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Like many Americans, I had hoped that Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) would win a convincing victory in yesterday’s elections in Germany and replace the anti-American government of the Social Democrats‘ (SPD) Gerhard Schröder. And while we are disappointed by the returns yesterday in which neither coalition (CDU and Free Democrats (FPD) or the SPD and Green Party) received a majority of seats in the Bundestag, I realized how little the result matters in terms of the current geopolitical situation.
To be sure, President Bush’s hand would be strengthened if a CDU/FDP government emerges. And if Chancellor Gerhard Schröder should be replaced, Jacques Chirac will have lost his largest (& strongest) ally in his project to create a European bloc to counter the United States. Whichever government emerges, President Bush’s foreign policy will remain the same. Germany is no longer as relevant as it once was.
Twenty-two years ago, however, the German election really mattered. After Helmut Schmidt, the last serious SPD Chancellor, lost a vote of confidence in the Bundestag on October 1, 1982, the CDU’s Helmut Kohl became Chancellor. As his party faced the March 6, 1983 elections, there was a growing movement against the deployment of Pershing II missiles, a deployment essential to President Reagan’s Cold War strategy.
Had the CDU/FDP coalition then lost, the Bundestag would likely not have voted that November to deploy these missiles. The Gipper’s hand would have been weakened and the Berlin Wall likely would not have fallen in 1989.
In 1983, the Germany election was significant. While the position of the United States would certainly be strengthened by the success of Ms. Merkel, it won’t be weakened should Schröder somehow manage to cling to power.
[Read more…]

Partial victory for the Bush Doctrine

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I may be a little more sanguine that Roger Simon about the results of yesterday’s elections in Lebanon. Noting the 28 percent turnout in Beirut, Roger concludes that “Lebanon seems somewhat less eager for democracy than Iraq” (where turnout five months ago today was roughly twice that).
I see it as a good sign that in the first elections in this diverse nation “since 1990 to be free of Syrian interference” that the opposition swept all the seats. (To be sure, the candidates on opposition leader Saad Hariri’s list were unopposed in nine of hte city’s 19 seats.)
Many Christians boycotted the elections “because of what they consider to be a lack of representation.” The Times (of London) noted that “These elections are being held under a gerrymandered law, introduced under Syrian tutelage, that favoured Damascus’s allies in parliament.” Hopefully, if the opposition wins a majority in Parliament as it expected, the new government can create districts which more accurately reflect the tiny nation’s diverse population.
Since turnout was so low, this can’t be considered a resounding victory for democracy, but we can certainly cheer the success of the opposition. Before the Iraqi elections in January, opposition parties didn’t fare all that well in elections in any Middle Eastern nation (save Israel). If the opposition wins a majority when the rest of the seats are decided (to be held over the next three Sundays) and there is a peaceful transition to a new government, then these elections will represent one part of this Mediterranean nation’s progress toward democracy. I agree with Jayson at Polipundit that this is another effect of the Bush Doctrine.
And acknowledge as well the wisdom of Roger Simon’s question, “Whoever said this was going to be easy?”

Non!

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French voters today overwhelmingly rejected the European Union’s constitution. Instapundit offers his thoughts here while Roger Simon offers his commentary here.
UPDATE (05-29-05; 10:15 PST): I pretty much agree with Charging Rhino‘s analysis of the French vote. He is right to contrast the size of the proposed EU constitution and our own founding charter:

The proposed EU constitution runs 575-pages…The US Constitution is about 12 in the same type-face. The British survive without any written constitution forcing tradition and necessity to ride-tandem adjusting to the needs of the people and the nation.

Now, that I’ve whet your appetite, read the whole thing!