Unsung Progress in Iraq

From Congressman Tom Tancredo's ( R-CO ) web page :

Despite the negative perceptions of events in Iraq reinforced by the media’s portrayal of the reconstruction, real progress has been made within the last few months. The lives of ordinary Iraqis are improving every day, from the simple opportunities that they have to buy household appliances for the first time to the basic human and political rights that they enjoy under the new constitution.
Some critics charge that Iraq’s infrastructure and basic services have been degraded. Some misled critics go so far as to say life was better under Saddam. The truth, however, is quite the contrary.
Electricity
Yes, Baghdad has been without electricity for short, recurring periods of time, but not because the American military has been unable to restore the power grid. Instead, energy production has actually increased since the liberation but has been outpaced by a 60% increase in energy demand. This is because citizens in Baghdad have better access to consumer products that we take for granted, like televisions and air conditioning units. Indeed, there were only 850,000 telephone subscribers before the war, but now there are 4.5 million.
The enormous growth in the demand for consumer products reflects greater economic freedom in Iraqi markets, and it is paralleled by a growth in personal freedoms. Whereas Saddam controlled the media before the war, the private media now includes 44 commercial television stations, 72 commercial radio stations and over 100 newspapers. The prospects for a democratic Iraq are dramatically improved by the long-overdue presence of an independent media with freedom of speech.
Saddam’s Regime of Terror
This is in stark contrast to the flagrant human rights violations that plagued Iraqi citizens throughout Saddam’s regime. According to Amnesty International, Saddam’s security forces killed tens or possibly even hundreds of thousands of Iraqi citizens. In just one example of brutal oppression, in March of 1988, Saddam gassed the Kurdish town of Halabja, killing nearly 5,000 innocent men, women and children.
Even those who were not in constant danger of death suffered under Saddam. Women had few if any rights under Saddam’s regime and were completely under the power of their husbands or male relatives. If a woman dared to step out of line, her male relatives were well within their rights to kill her for the sake of their family’s honor. Now young girls are going to school, young women can attend college and women have the right not only to vote in elections, but to exercise the highest right in a democracy – running for office.
Iraq’s New Chapter
These rights, such a distant dream for the Iraqis that Saddam oppressed, are secured in the constitution that Iraqis considered in a nationwide referendum on October 15. Although ballots are still being counted, the constitution appears to have passed, overcoming a deep sectarian feud between the Kurds, Shi’ites and Sunnis. When Iraqis went to the polls to elect a National Assembly to draft the constitution, the Sunnis largely boycotted the election, which casted doubt on the legitimizing of the fledgling democracy. The original draft of the constitution would have created a loose federation with a weak central government, essentially recognizing the de facto autonomy that the Kurds have enjoyed for years and extending the same autonomy to the Shi’ites in the South. Sunnis overwhelmingly oppose this because it would leave them stranded in the center of the country with no oil or other natural resources to sustain themselves.
The vast majority of Sunnis were expected to reject the constitution, but this was averted by important compromises. Last-minute revisions recognize Iraq as a member of the Arab League and create two deputy prime minister positions, one of which will be held by a Sunni. More importantly, to address Sunni opposition to the federal system, the Kurds and Shi’ites agreed to a mechanism for the next elected parliament to amend the constitution after it is accepted. These important concessions have made the Sunnis feel like they have a voice and a role in the new government. As a result, initial projections peg Sunni turnout – which was very low in the National Assembly election – at around 61%, which is higher than turnout in United States presidential elections. If the Kurds and Shi’ites can put forth a genuine effort to build a consensus that includes Sunnis, who were initially so opposed to democracy, there is reason to be optimistic about Iraqi democracy.
Rapid Progress
If the successful drafting and ratification of the Iraqi constitution do not seem that impressive, it is only because of a lack of perspective. In just the last two and a half years, Iraq has been liberated from a brutal dictator, is combating a foreign-led insurgency and is already voting on a constitution. It took six years for the American colonies to liberate themselves, and even then, it took another three years to ratify the Articles of Confederation, and another seven years before problems with the federal system forced the country to start over. Imagine the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia with an insurgency raging outside. The fact that the Iraqi constitution already has a mechanism to offer amendments to address such problems puts the new constitution in a very strong position, especially when one considers the level of violence in Iraq.
While it may be too soon to weigh the full impact of a democratic Iraq on the surrounding area, no one can deny the progress on security issues that has been made in the Middle East. Since the liberation, Libya announced in December of 2003 that it did in fact possess weapons of mass destruction, but that it would dismantle all WMDs and allow independent investigators unconditional access to verify their dismantling. In the Cedar Revolution, the Lebanese successfully forced Syrian soldiers out of their country after the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Egypt even voted to allow opposition parties to take part in the political process. It is in the interest of the United States that democracy breed more democracy – and eventually stability and peace – in the Arab world.
Given all that the war in Iraq has produced so far, people throughout the world should admire and honor the sacrifices that American soldiers have made. The United States did not invade Iraq to conquer it, but rather to set it free. The United States does not stand to gain territory, oil or any other spoils of war. We all should be proud of that sacrifice.

Read More about Success in Iraq.