Spite, Own Noses, and the Cutting Thereof

Some Iraqi Sunni Arabs are flirting with not participating in the elections next month because some Sunni Arabs have been barred for allegedly being tied to the now-outlawed Baath Party. That would be an act of monumental stupidity, but given their history of stupidity we can't rule out that they'll carry out their threat and sit out the election.

General Odierno thinks it is too soon to see if the threat is real. More importantly, he asks for some perspective when you consider that we're talking about fewer than a couple hundred candidates, of whom only a small fraction have a shot at actually winning a seat:

Obviously we are for all groups participating in the elections. It's important that we have a broad-based group associated with the election.

Now I will tell you today there are 6,242 candidates that are going to run in the elections for 325 seats. And those numbers represent Sunni, Shi'a, Kurds, and so we still have a broad-based group there running for elections inside of Iraq. So we have a small contingent that's talking about potentially not running. We'll see what the impacts of those are. But we still see a broad-based number of candidates running. We have over 1,500 -- I think it's 1,700 female candidates running for election. So there's a broad base of candidates still involved in the elections.

Even if the Iraqi body that banned the candidates is 100% wrong, it would be folly for a minority with blood on its hands that relies for its safety and future on the former victims (85% of the population) not exacting revenge to abandon democracy and rule of law.

Contest the bans, by all means. And pursue legal options even after the elections. But for the Sunni Arabs to boycott the elections would be sheer rock-pounding stupidity.

UPDATE: Withdrawing was apparently a bit of brinksmanship theater. The Sunnis are not boycotting:

Saleh al-Mutlaq during a news conference on Thursday reversed his earlier position and said he would now allow his party to take part in the vote. He called on all Iraqis to go to participate in elections.

Good. There is no way that boycotting the election is good for Iraq's Sunni Arabs. As I've said, they should by all means pursue redress within the system or in the court of public opinion. We'll work hard to make sure that elections continue to be held in Iraq and that rule of law is strengthened, so this avenue will be far more productive for Sunni Arabs than supporting terrorism or just staying home.