hoie–transpired,tommy hilfiger store, in part, because he twice met Saddam prior to his 1991 flight to exile.Many Iraqis besides Sistani have called for direct elections. But it would be a mistake to assume that all Iraqis–let alone all Shia–support the grand ayatollah, or see democracy as simplistically as he does. I represent a mixed Sunni-Shia area in Baghdad. My constituents understand that fair elections are impossible without safety and security. No one will wait in a line to vote if he fears being mowed down by Shia militias like the Badr Corps, which, far from disarming, Ambassador Paul Bremer has actually encouraged. The American decision to fill the ranks of the new Iraqi police force with Badr Corps members–more loyal to the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq than to the idea of Iraqi democracy–is one sign of this. The same thugs who sought to impose an Iranian dress code on Iraqi women now have U.S.-issued weapons and roam streets and university campuses harassing women and girls. As long as the Badr Corps move uncontrolled, elections will not be possible. Democracy is about tolerance and compromise, not enforcing pro-Iranian dictates from the barrel of a gun.Iraqi professionals are acutely aware of the lack of any law that would govern elections for any level of government. It is one of the reasons that Iraqis joke that “CPA,” the acronym for the Coalition Provisional Authority, really stands for “Can’t Provide Anything.” I’d guess that most of the crowds for hire, paid by some Shia political parties to rally around Sistani’s beck and call, are also aware that elections are impossible at this juncture. I am not too pessimistic, because Iraq does have an atavistic memory of a more democratic period. Unfortunately,cheap tommy hilfiger, it has been 60 years since we have experienced and practiced such free expression.Sistani’s statements have done little good for Iraqi democracy. Rather, his calls appear timed to bolster his own image above those of competing populists. I do not deny Sistani’s religious importance; there is no doubt that religiously, the Shia are better organized. But such organization does not necessarily translate into a powerful voting block. Iraq has the most educated population of any Arab country: Iraqi Shia doctors, dentists, and engineers may be respectful to Sistani because of his age and learning, but would laugh at the idea that they should take political advice from a man who was born in Iran and hasn’t been out of his house in decades. When John F. Kennedy was campaigning to be president of the United States, some in the media suggested that a Catholic president would take orders from the pope. The reality is far different: Such a thing would never happen in America, and Iraqis resent the implication from Western journalists that it will happen here. We also resent the implication–from so-called experts in the U.S. State Department and British Foreign Office–that the only “legitimate” Shia are those wearing turbans, just as we resent the view that “legitimate” Sunnis are those who set off bombs and explosives.There are other reasons why Iraqis resent the implication that as Sistani says, so Iraq will do. First of all, Iraqi Sunnis question the assumption that the Shia are the majority in Iraq. The Shia sparsely populate the south, while the Sunnis live in concentrated clusters. Anyone who has visited the environs of Baquba, Tikrit,tommy hilfiger outlet, Mosul, or Fallujah, and compared them to the suburbs of Karbala, Najaf, or Kut, will notice the difference immediately. If there is one lesson for the West, it should be to not trust the estimates of the Central Intelligence Agency.Sistani may have the bully pulpit,buy tommy hilfiger online, but opponents seek to undermine his base daily. Iranian agents have free run of Iraq, thanks to Ambassador Bremer’s failure to close the borders. The Islamic Republic of Iran bases its legitimacy on the fallacy that its unelected Supreme Leader has religious legitimacy. The United States has made many mistakes in Iraq, but they have given us freedom of speech. This frightens theRelated articles:


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