Building Democracy in Iraq

Stories like this one are quite encouraging, and do not get enough attention, especially on the nightly news: Early Steps, Maybe, Toward a Democracy in Iraq

Caucuses like the one Dr. Abu-Raghif attended have been convening around Iraq to select roughly 1,000 delegates, who will hold a national conference in Baghdad in the next week.

The concrete goal of the conference is to vote - openly and freely - on a 100-seat transitional council that will oversee the government of Iyad Allawi, the interim prime minister, until national elections are held in January. But the conference is also meant to function as an opportunity for a national dialogue, in which for the first time since the fall of Saddam Hussein, Iraqis from all religions, regions and political and ethnic groups begin to discuss the way forward.

Consider where these people were pre-invasion and where they appear to be heading now. The poetry-writing despot of Baghdad would hardly have ever allowed this type of activity.

The article rightly notes the problems associated with the process: the security problem, and mechanical issues such as assuring adequate representation.