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Iraq-Jordan
Muslim Scholars just hates those Iraqi elections
2005-01-31
Iraq's influential Association of Muslim Scholars has told Aljazeera that the low turnout by Sunni Arabs in elections was due to a lack of real choice and military occupation.
As anyone can see, the Kurds and Shiites and Chaldeans and Turkmen had lots of choices and are completely unoccupied...
In an interview broadcast before polling stations closed on Sunday, Muhammad al-Kubaysi said low turnout in places such as Baghdad, Baquba and Samarra could have been prevented if there had been more time to create a genuine election.
"Yeah! You shoulda put the elections off for awhile."
"Like how long?"
"'Bout 30 years should do it..."
"The voter goes to the polling stations not knowing who he is voting for in the first place. There are more than 7700 candidates, and I challenge any Iraqi voter to name more than half a dozen."
There aren't quite that many parties, luckily, and they were voting by slate...
He also criticised the huge number of groups on voting lists in which it was virtually impossible to know who was standing for election and what the candidate's background was.
"Impossible. Simply impossible. Maybe Kurds and Shiites and Chaldeans and Turkmen could cope with it, but not Sunnis."
The AMS spokesman added that it would be wrong for the US to assume that any new government could legitimise the continued US military presence in the region. "The elections are not a solution to the Iraqi problem, because this problem is not an internal dispute to be resolved through accords and elections. It lies in the presence of a foreign power that occupies this country and refuses even the mere scheduling of the withdrawal of its forces from Iraq", he said. Al-Kubaysi said AMS believed political consensus among Iraqi parties could only be reached once the foreign military presence left the country and all parties had to rely on debate rather than use of force.
"And what'll you do for a government until then?"
"The Association of Muslim Scholars could run things until then. Trust us..."
"We have consistently argued that elections can only occur in a democracy that enjoys sovereignty. Our sovereignty is incomplete. Our sovereignty is usurped by foreign forces that have occupied our land and hurt our dignity." Asked whether the influential group was looking to upset a transition to democracy by rejecting elections, al-Kubaysi replied: "These elections ... are a means of establishing the foreign forces in Iraq and keeping Iraq under the yoke of occupation. They should have been postponed."
I'd call that a "yes."
Posted by:Fred

#15  40% of the Sunni voted. This is just a bunch or trubaned retards. A far as I can tell all you need to be a Muslim Scholar is a turban and some people stupid enough to follow you.

The reporters hanging out in the green zone love this crap they can drink all day and report this nonsense as news. It plays to their bias so of course they love it.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom   2005-01-31 8:37:10 PM  

#14  Bummer, TGA: your elections are still not legitimate while we have our troops over there. You, too, Bulldog. Oh, and South Korea and Japan.
Posted by: jackal   2005-01-31 8:16:30 PM  

#13  foreign forces that have occupied our land and hurt our dignity

He just said it, the Sunni's can blame whoever they want, but it's really their own fault because all they care about is pride, and noone elses dignity for over 30 years.

Sorry about the lack of choices, Sammy wasn't on the Ballot this time!
Posted by: Chineter Spoger1529   2005-01-31 1:51:46 PM  

#12  the "Kashmir" part would be cool, the rest of it I'd rather avoid........
Posted by: Jarhead   2005-01-31 11:49:14 AM  

#11  Al-Kubaysi said AMS believed political consensus among Iraqi parties could only be reached once the foreign military presence left the country and all parties had to rely on debate rather than use of force.

So does this mean AMS WONT take part in the upcoming constitutional discussions?? If they do all the above is simply rhetoric. If they dont, I think they will simply marginalize themselves.


I also note that some Sunni groups DID participate, notably the party led by Adnan Pachachi. Also there was considerable Sunni voting in parts of Baghdad and Mosul, and even some in Fallujah of all places.

Posted by: Liberalhawk   2005-01-31 11:45:04 AM  

#10  I don't know about "Arab logic", but I've read plenty this morning that convinces me that Sunnis are morons and "Sunni logic" is an oxymoron.
Posted by: Tom   2005-01-31 10:55:02 AM  

#9  ---"We have consistently argued that elections can only occur in a democracy that enjoys sovereignty---

Like the 2002 elections?
Posted by: anonymous2u   2005-01-31 10:54:59 AM  

#8  "The elections are not a solution to the Iraqi --problem, because this problem is not an internal dispute to be resolved through accords and elections. It lies in the presence of a foreign power that occupies this country and refuses even the mere scheduling of the withdrawal of its forces from Iraq",--

Then it becomes an internal dispute which cannot be solved by accords and elections.
Posted by: anonymous2u   2005-01-31 10:53:26 AM  

#7  And that link goes to one of the best examples of R&R syncopation ever recorded, heh.
Posted by: .com   2005-01-31 10:49:20 AM  

#6  whatthe? I love Led Zeppelin!
Posted by: Frank G   2005-01-31 10:46:24 AM  

#5  :) Tanx, bro!
Posted by: .com   2005-01-31 10:31:37 AM  

#4  rare form PD! LOL
Posted by: Shipman   2005-01-31 10:26:34 AM  

#3  Iraq’s influential Association of Muslim Scholars

. . . destined to take its place alongside Pat Buchanan's American Conservative magazine, Dennis Kucinich's 2004 presidential bid, and the Cleveland Browns offense, in the Organization of the Overrated and Overconfident Hall of Fame Obscurity.
Posted by: Mike   2005-01-31 8:51:38 AM  

#2  "Iraq’s influential Association of Muslim Scholars..." I think there is a minor grammatical error here. I think the word "influential" should be capitalized, as part of their self-given title. So instead of IAoMS, it should be IIAoMS.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2005-01-31 8:37:18 AM  

#1  There is nothing quite like Arab Logic. It needs a warning label. methinks...

The Surgeon General has determined that Arab Logic may be seriously hazardous to your mental health. If you delve too deeply, it has been shown to cause fundamental physical changes in the brain... first it severs the corpus collosum causing grande mal seizures and convulsions... then you begin speaking in tongues as your right and left hemispheres engage in a battle for dominance... text no longer makes sense - and you must rely upon the pretty pictures... then it fries the myelin from all your intercranial neurons, effectively shorting out all but the simplest thought patterns, and turns Schwann cells into Schwinn cells. As the event unfolds, your synapses begin to fire in perfect syncopated rhythm with Led Zeppelin's Kashmir and a puff of smoke comes out of your ears. Afterwards, when the event has completed, of course, you're a shoo-in to qualify for the Tour de France and you'll find yourself inexplicably drawn to the NYT Fashion & Style Section and consider vacationing in Paris as a rational act. In the final death-sprial of what was, once, your shining intelect, you'll consider haute couture as normal daywear.

Your choice. Don't say you weren't warned.
Posted by: .com   2005-01-31 12:42:10 AM  

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