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I Am in Despair, that I Must Still Choose Leaders for Iraq [1]
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Date: 2022-08-29
In 2010, Iraq held elections for parliament, and thus for prime minister, and a government.
A coalition including Sadrists, called the Iraqi National Alliance, won the most seats. In the natural course of events, the alliance would have allied with an even larger coalition, and formed a government.
I have veto power over Iraqi elections, though. Especially, these days, when my national interests are in alignment with the national interests of Iran.
Iran and I nixed the idea of an Iraqi government that would include Sadrists.
It took Iraq nine months to form the government that Iran and I wanted. Nine months is a world record. But we had patience, and got what we wanted in the end.
History does not repeat itself. But sometimes it rhymes very closely.
In 2018, a coalition including Sadrists again won. Iran and I again got what we wanted in the end.
I said, at the time, that I am glad that I do not have to choose leaders for Iraq anymore. I thought, over optimistically, that Iran would now be choosing leaders for Iraq on its own, lifting a considerable burden from me.
This was two years after Russia had helped choose a leader for the United States. It gave me a heightened appreciation that one nation choosing leaders for another nation is a very bad idea.
I thus became more tired than ever of my habit of choosing leaders for other nations.
Last year, Sadrists, in Iraq, now running in their own name, won by far the most seats.
Yet again, Iran and I nixed the idea of an Iraqi government that would include Sadrists.
Iraq is now 10 months without forming a government, beating their own world record.
Sadrists have now dropped out, and have taken to protests. Except for the part about protests, Iran and I, with the Sadrists out, have got what we wanted one more time.
Our newspapers of record publish divergent views on Iraq.
Alissa Rubin, at the New York Times, has two articles about Iraq after the election.
Rubin is a Pulitzer Prize winner. She expresses the views of the United States national security establishment. Which is to say, she expresses mine.
On the other hand, Robert Worth, before the election, had a feature article in the Sunday New York Times Magazine, titled “Inside the Iraqi Kleptocracy”. Worth shows sympathy for the Iraqi people, rather for than the U.S. national security establishment and me.
And Louisa Loveluck and Mustafa Salim, in the Washington Post, had an article titled “Baghdad gripped by protests as political rivals vie for power”. Loveluck and Salim show sympathy for the Iraqi people as well.
They have this to say in their article:
While the politics were complicated, the core problem was simple, analysts said. Twenty years after the U.S.-led invasion, winners from the kleptocratic political system it ultimately installed are now fighting over who reaps its spoils.
That paragraph makes me feel queasy.
I had chosen a kleptocracy for Afghanistan as well. (Plus, many of the warlords I had chosen to lead Afghanistan were war criminals.
Last year, my attempt to choose leaders for Afghanistan ended in disaster.
I have been repeating, here at Daily Kos, for some six years now, how tired I am of choosing leaders for other nations.
At this point, having to one more time chose leaders for Iraq, when I thought I would never have to think about the place again, I am in a state of damned despair about it.
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