But if Iraq is to be something better than a lack of the worst sort of minority-based thug rule and not become a thug state that abuses the actual minority, the politicians will need to learn how to lose properly:
The elections on December 15th will create a National Assembly that, next year, will create a new government and, demonstrate if a democratic Iraq can govern itself. In the Arab world, elections tend to lead to the winners changing the rules to insure that they stay in power for as long as possible, no matter what the voters want. Will that happen in Iraq? We're about to find out.
Remember that after his accomplishment of leading Americans to victory through dark times against the British Empire, George Washington may have made his most important contribution by stepping down after two terms as president and making sure that our people had a real democracy where the government cleaned out their desks and left peacefully for the new guys who won the last election.
It may be some time before we learn if the Iraqis can make this shift in thinking.
