Elections are coming in Iraq, and voting is taken seriously since the outcome is in doubt until ballots are counted. This is a great change from Saddam's day:
Brightly colored placards blanket major streets and hang around the vast cemetery in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, appealing to the hundreds of mourners who stream through each day.
The April 20 vote for provincial governing councils will be the first election since the U.S. military withdrawal in December 2011. Even though elections for federal positions such as prime minister and parliament are not scheduled until next year, this will nevertheless be a key test for Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's dominant political bloc. ...
More than 8,000 candidates from a dizzying array of dozens of electoral blocs, including many little-known small parties, are in the running.
The voting is good enough to make al Qaeda hate them:
Militants are making sure they are heard in the run-up to the polls. At least 13 candidates have been killed so far.
Ah, "militants." Why the AP style book can't say "terrorists" is beyond me.
This isn't League of Women Voters-level of democracy, of course:
"We know that the people running for this election are after the huge salaries, privileges and a share in (government) contracts. The last thing that crosses their mind ... is to end the suffering of the people in their provinces," Khazim added.
As a retired government worker who speaks English fluently, Khazim is probably Sunni Arab, so perhaps more upset that Shias get a chance at salaries, privileges, and contracts in these unsettling days when Sunnis aren't able to lord it over the bumpkin Shias. But he has a point. Rule of law isn't what it should be. Pity we aren't there in strength to promote rule of law.
Funny enough, the Iraqis seem to be copying the worst of our governing elite's habits in this regard, so maybe we aren't the best to teach honesty in government.
But all in all, the Iraqis aren't doing too badly if you grade them on a regional curve--let alone a historical curve. Let's strive to help Iraq do better rather than whine their leaders aren't as civic minded as ours. While we are way better in general, I'll admit, lately we seem to be doing worse--however you want to grade our leadership. quality.
