Blogging the democratic revolution
John Hinderaker at Power Line asks whether the information to date demonstrates that large numbers of Sunnis did, in fact, vote for the new Iraqi constitution. RTWT. UPDATE: On the other hand, in the alternate reality-based community, the Sunnis are being subjugated — because, I suppose, the position held by the majority of Sunnis didn’t carry the referendum. Or something like that.
Well, we can already count one victory: the Iraqis, mired in a Vietquagmire and facing constant (real) terrorism, can be trusted to vote on their constitution in 2005 — just a couple of years removed from living under one of the world’s brutal tyrants — which says a lot about Iraq’s present status and how the world views their status. Meanwhile, how’s that going in Europe? Surely we can’t talk about failure in Iraq, when Iraqis are more trusted with their democracy than Europeans are with theirs, and have achieved more actual democratic progress in a far more hostile environment.…
Iraqis voted today on whether to accept the constitution, which Publius has covered extensively. Terrorism was minimal, with only three relatively unsuccessful attacks wounding two police officers and one civilian — which, out of 6,000 polling stations, is a highly ineffective 0.05% success rate. It does indeed look as though the Iraqi and coalition security forces are able to maintain the peace while locking down infrastructure; I expect that as the Iraqi forces continue to ramp up in the coming months, they’ll rapidly outpace the terrorists and develop the capacity to hold the peace without restricting Iraqis’ rights. But, then,…
Hm, something’s wrong — it’s not quite Yulia. (From Ukraine, Russia, Europe, the US, Oh My!)
Following up on Glenn’s post, I’ve just donated to and would recommend donating to the Union for Reform Judaism’s Disaster Relief Fund. They have an option to donate specifically for Katrina help, and 100% of your donation is used for relief. You don’t have to be a member or anything to donate (I’m not). Check out Glenn’s post and follow along at Instapundit for further details and updates, and many more ideas for donating or otherwise helping out. UPDATE: the truth laid bear is keeping tabs on Katrina relief and offers a comprehensive list of blogs and charities. ANOTHER UPDATE:…
Last week, IAM(also)CANADIAN posted this humorous piece on the newly-designated Governor General, Michaelle Jean: The Liberal government has taken this Äracial profilingÅ one step further, using a complex profiling formula in order to draft the new Governor General. “The algorithm they are using appears to require attention to be paid ONLY to persons who are female, non-Caucasian, non-Canadian born, from Montreal Quebec, left wing, former CBC employees” said Tom, a Governor General racial profiling expert. On a more serious note, we now find out that Michaelle Jean is allegedly a Quebec nationalist whose circle of friends includes Quebec terrorists. “In…
What, still no election results? Speaking of elections, Japan has unfortunately rejected Prime Minister Koizumi’s proposed privatization of ludicrous government “programs,” leading to elections. The story has details, for those who haven’t been following closely. Caroline Glick at JPost analyzes Netanyahu’s resignation, possible outcomes, and what this means for the future of Israel at a critical juncture. Iran restarted its nuclear weapons development uranium conversion program. Annan urges Iran to exercise “restraint” with nuclear program. Publius commentator urges pre-emptive strike on Iran. There’s never anything wrong with linking to the latest Mark Steyn. And surely by now there’s no one…
Eric Raymond has an interesting and well-reasoned piece up about our notion of Iraq’s recovery. His hypothesis is that as long as the Kurds want in, Iraq’s fine; if the Kurds see trouble, they’ll get out — and we’ll know. Makes sense to me. Definitely read the whole thing, for ESR’s typically lucid writing as well as for the rest of his thoughts. (Also, of course, the discussion in the comments thread.) UPDATE: Chrenkoff throws in some upward-looking opinion poll results.
OK, so it’s a bit of a stretch to put this under babes of politics, but I think you’ll let this one go: Pounding a beat, pistol in hand, an Iraqi woman soldier is a novelty in Baghdad: Pounding her Baghdad beat, wrapped in a bulletproof vest and brandishing a pistol, Sgt. Bushra Jabar definitely stands out in the new Iraq. She’s the only woman in the Iraqi Army unit patrolling the Kharkh district in the heart of the capital. … Her day starts with a ride to her base in the back of a military pickup truck. She’s wearing…
Here’s an interesting article at The Messenger, an English-language Georgian newspaper. Additionally, here at a Ukrainian news site, there’s a brief report on Israeli investment in Ukraine, noting that over the most recent half year “foreign capital amount increased 16 times in comparison with the same period of the last year.”
In new news, more bombs in London: Three London Underground stations were evacuated at midday Thursday, and the London police commissioner confirmed that four explosions occurred in the subway and on a bus. The Fire Brigade was investigating a report of smoke at one station. And in a follow-up to old news, it looks like the Georgian grenade-thrower got found, killed a Georgian police officer, got shot, and is now receiving medical care. And of all the possible surprises: Officials on Thursday gave little information about Arutyunian, described in news reports as being in his mid-20s and unemployed. But Interior…
Mark Steyn’s latest is out, and it’s absolutely stunning. I won’t even bother to excerpt anything here, just go and read the whole thing.
I normally don’t comment on the media, but this bit from the AP is egregious: But in a development that could affect efforts to get Shiites and Sunnis working together, President Jalal Talabani said Saddam, a Sunni, could be put on trial in the next two months. Hello? Excuse me? As though it’s not a ridiculous enough assumption that Saddam Hussein is representative of Iraq’s Sunnis and that his trial could cost the new government their support… bipartisan cooperation efforts are absolutely nowhere on the scale of important issues in trying and sentencing a genocidal tyrant who literally filled the…
Ordinarily we don’t cover events in the already-democratic world, but with many Canadians questioning to what degree their nation still holds on to that distinction, I direct you to this week’s two-part Red Ensign Standard, via an introduction at The London Fog. A few days ago I posted on the state of democracy in Canada.
Georgia experienced the Rose Revolution in 2003, serving as an antecedent for Ukraine’s Orange Revolution (as well as democratic revolutions elsewhere). Georgia has since made nice progress, with U.S. President Bush visiting two weeks ago. Now a commission of the Georgian government, led by President Saakashvili, has prepared a draft document outlining the nation’s national security requirements and fundamental national values. Civil Georgia has the story: The draft concept of the national security sets sovereignty, security, peace, democracy, rule of law, human rights and welfare as Georgia????????s fundamental national values. These values are a ???????vital necessity for the existence and…
The New York Times reports: In a stark reversal from earlier this year, when Sunni Arabs boycotted national elections here, a broad gathering of Sunni sheiks, clerics and political leaders formed a political alliance on Saturday, seeking to win back the political ground they had lost to Shiites. The meeting was the first wide-scale effort by Iraq’s embittered and increasingly isolated Sunnis to band together politically, and was broadly attended by what organizers said was about 2,000 Sunni Arabs from Baghdad and nearby cities. The gathering was an implicit acknowledgment that it had been a mistake to turn away from…
The government of Canada yesterday survived a no confidence vote: The combination of the Liberals, the NDP, and Independent MP Carolyn Parrish resulted in 151 votes. Independent MP Chuck Cadman also voted with the yes side, bringing the vote to 152. But, after the Conservatives, the Bloc Quebecois and Independent MP David Kilgour voted, the numbers were tied at 152. Speaker of the House Peter Milliken was left to make the final, deciding vote in favour of the government. Meanwhile, questions have arisen as to the propriety of how some of the pro-government votes were assured, with suggestions that the…
In a sweeping post, The Faces of G comments on the new alignments: Several key anti-U.S. states have been more public in their movements and alignments. A week ago, North Korea boasted of its nuclear weapons. Syria and Iran get together to build a ‘common front’ Änothing new, just a PR stunt reallyÅ. Today, Russia stated it would continue to help Iran’s “peaceful” nuclear program. On Wednesday, CIA director Porter Goss warned that a Chinese military build-up could tip the cross-strait military balance with Taiwan. China didn’t like those remarks, but must at the same time walk a diplomatic tightrope,…
Ukrayinska Pravda comments: The biography of Yulia Tymoshenko can be learnt not only by the official chronicle, but by her photos as well. At the same time, every stage of her life can be distinguished exactly. The reason for this is that every stage of Yulia Volodymyrivna????????s life is indicated with the change of the style. Acute observation.