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Iraq
The Politics of War
2005-11-15
First part of this is good -- about Iraq's vice-president. I cut the last half which is usual liberal drivel.
Adel Abdul Mahdi, Iraq's vice president, may seem a bit unfeeling as he assesses the ongoing violence in his country. It is very hard, he says -- but better than during Saddam Hussein's day, when, Mahdi says, each year 30,000 Iraqis were executed or assassinated by the regime or killed in the dictator's wars.

It may sound unfeeling, that is, until you remember that, just days before Mahdi's visit to Washington last week, his older brother was killed in a drive-by shooting.

This he does not speak about quite so matter-of-factly. But Mahdi, who was imprisoned and then exiled by Hussein, puts even this fresh murder in historical context. "My brother always suffered," Mahdi said. "Whenever they had a problem with me, they would detain him, they would torture him . . .

"They waged terrorism from within the government," Mahdi added. "Now they are waging the same attacks, as an opposition, from the streets. . . . These are the same methods, practiced by the same people."

A Shiite political leader with a good chance of becoming prime minister after next month's elections, Mahdi brought to Washington a familiar complaint: that the U.S. media and their audience focus exclusively on the bad news, ignoring Iraq's "tremendous achievements." Turnout was high in Iraq's first election, higher for its constitutional referendum and will be higher still, he said, in the December vote -- all despite death threats to anyone who votes. In the face of terror, Iraq's progress toward democracy is unprecedented in the Middle East.

But, he says, Iraq and the United States are "victims of different agendas."

"Iraq's is a life-or-death agenda -- how to build a democracy," Mahdi said. "Others' are political agendas."
As the writer then goes on to demonstrate.
Posted by:Steve White

#3  The Republicans are running scared. This is bad, Bush needs to get off his ass quit touring the world and make continuous speeches non-stop making the case pounding it into the peoples minds. Bush sat back as the LLL's slowly beat down the "hearts and minds" here in the states to now we got a uphill battle to come back and the other Republicans are running around like rats jumping ship. McCain is going against Iraq war interrogation, leaks about our prisons (which by the way is just the most recent in a long line of intel leaks that should have been punished in FULL), now you got them basicly handing the terrrorist a 06' we are pulling out or very soon after no later than 08'. They cowed down on Anwar when oil is over 60 a barrel and we are hooked to the Middle east by the short hairs, we need a leader.
Posted by: C-Low   2005-11-15 09:00  

#2  Iraq's is a life-or-death agenda -- how to build a democracy," Mahdi said. "Others' are political agendas."

good piece. How did that slip under the radar of the WAPO editors? Does somebody need to be fired?
Posted by: 2b   2005-11-15 04:59  

#1  In MSM, Commie Fascists ? might NOT be Fascist Commies Clintonian Amerika, ALAN ALDA [GASP!]portrays a REPUBLICAN on WEST WING - 'nuff said. If I said more Madonna will faint.
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2005-11-15 03:31  

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