Commentary
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Friday, February 18, 2005
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■ In my opinion
Election aftermath
In October I wrote a column about
Ahmad Chalabi and his role in provid
ing false information to the Bush ad
ministration that later became their
justification for the war in Iraq (“Chal
abi makes spy game a reality,”
10/22/04). I wrote, in part:
“When future historians write
about this war, I suspect they will
sum it up like this: In the year 2003,
neoconservatives within the Bush ad
ministration were duped by an Iran
ian double agent into attacking Iraq
and removing Saddam Hussein in or
der to pave the way for a pro-Iran,
Shia-controlled Iraq. It was one of the
greatest acts of espionage ever perpe
trated against the superpower.”
My prediction became a reality this
week when the Independent Electoral
Commission of Iraq tallied the final
votes for last month’s election. The
Shiite-led United Iraqi Alliance (UIA),
backed by Iraq’s most influential Shi
ite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani,
received over 4 million votes, nearly
half of the Iraqi electorate. By contrast,
U.S.-backed interim Prime Minister
Ayad Allawi and his Iraqi List received
a measly 14 percent of the vote, at dis
tant third to the Kurdish alliance. It is
official: President Bush has lost an
election, and the Supreme Court can’t
save him this time.
The UIA will hold 140 seats in the
275-member National Assembly, a ma
jority that will still require them to ap
pease the Kurdish factions in order to
achieve the two-thirds majority neces
sary for most Assembly decisions.
Keeping the UIA united is another con
cern; after all, it is a coalition of several
different parties with several different
agendas, mainly the Dawa Party, the
Supreme Council for the Iraqi Revolu
tion in Iraq, and the Iraqi National Al
liance headed by Ahmad Chalabi.
Ahmad Chalabi? The last time we
DAVID JAGERNAUTH
CRITICAL MASS
heard from him was when his neocon
friends in the White House, who origi
nally fingered him to become the
leader of the new Iraq, had abandoned
him due to accusations that he passed
U.S. secrets to Iran. But now Chalabi is
back and in power. In fact, he is in a
two-man race to become the next
prime minister of the new Iraq.
For what it is worth, Chalabi has
my vote. He would make a fantastic
leader during this critical transitional
period when the Assembly is charged
with the lofty task of crafting a nation
al constitution from scratch. He is a
shrewd secularist that has managed
to ingratiate himself with Iraq’s vari
ous religious and ethnic sects. I be
lieve he desires to see Iraq become an
inclusive modern democratic state in
formed, but not controlled, by the Is
lamic religious elite. And though he is
close to Tehran, he is also a vocal sup
porter of the democratic reform move
ment currently rising up from the
grassroots in Iran.
Unfortunately, it appears as if Chal
abi is going to lose the prime minister
ship to Dawa Party leader Ibrahim al
Jaafari. Gossip has him in front as the
Assembly sets to vote in a secret ballot.
The final results might not be known
until Monday.
Though Jaafari’s rhetoric has been
moderate as of late, there is still much
fear that he intends to impose Islamic
law on Iraq; some even describe him
as a cleric in a business suit. It is true
that the Dawa Party platform calls for
the Islamization of the Iraqi govern
ment, but Jaafari backed away from
that position in a recent interview with
the Associated Press. Others fear that
Jaafari is too close to the Iranians. The
late Dawa leader Muhammad Baqr al
Sadr was inspired by the Iranian revo
lution and after membership in Dawa
was made punishable by death under
Saddam Hussein, many members fled
to Iran, where they remained until the
American occupation.
Regardless of how secular and dem
ocratic Iraq becomes, Americans need
to come to terms with this simple fact:
The democratization of the Middle
East will most likely result in more
anti-American sentiment, not less, in
the short term. The U.S. installed op
pressive dictators in Central and South
America for a reason — getting a dic
tator to push a pro-U.S. agenda at the
detriment of his or her people is far
easier than a democratically elected
leader. I would anticipate the new Iraqi
government will push U.S. contractors
out of their country in favor of Iraqi
ones, especially when the security situ
ation improves. From a U.S. perspec
tive, we have endured much suffering
for very little gain. But from an Iraqi
perspective, their suffering has result
ed in a new hope for long-term free
dom, peace and prosperity.
I doubt this is what the neocons in
the Bush administration had in mind
when they embarked on this war.
But I am sure that this is exactly
what Chalabi envisioned from day
one. He is Iraq’s best hope to avoid
falling into a repressive Islamic
theocracy, ala the Taliban. Chalabi
has done more to bring about the
new Iraq than any other Iraqi —
who could possibly make a better
prime minister?
da vidjagema nth @ dailyemerald. com
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Currently, there are no mechanisms
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Contrary to the recent claims about
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sue is not about free speech or the
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ness at the University and receives
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ples of equality of opportunity
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■ Out loud
“His topic was not the main focus of the con
ference. It wasn't part of the original intent.” —
Morse Center Director Margaret Hallock ex
plaining the center’s decision to un-invite
keynote speaker and controversial University
of Colorado professor Ward Churchill from a
conference on Feb. 11.
“I was just observing and I saw it. I got really
excited. I knew it when I saw it, and I knew
I got it. It was a shot you get giddy about right
away.” — Aaron Rogosin, University fine
arts major and winner of the Red Bull Rampage
“In Focus” photography competition on his
prize-winning photo.
“The goal is that every law-abiding
Eugenean should be able to have equal
rights in employment, equal rights in housing
and equal rights in public accommodations,
and surely one of those is the ability
to use the bathroom when you're at
the movies.” — Ward 3 City Councilor
David Kelly on an ordinance that would add
discrimination based on gender identity
or gender orientation to Eugene's anti-dis
crimination code.
“I get asked if the campus is really safe and
then to prove it. I can't prove if I feel unsafe.
They have to take my word for it until it gets vi
olent. It shouldn’t have to get to the point of
someone actually being put in danger.” — Uni
versity sophomore and former ASUO Student
Senator Emily Sousa at a forum focused mainly
on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and
queer students' feelings of personal and
emotional safety on campus Tliesday night.
"I was under the impression, at least from
the elections coordinator, that it was merely like
a rubber-stamp-type thing. I'm rather confused
right now.” — University sophomore Silas
Snider on the ASUO Constitution Court's de
nial of his request to begin gathering signatures
to initiate a recall of the ASUO Executive and
the ASUO Student Senate on TUesday.
“While it is regrettable that a student of the
University and a member of the ASUO would
feel this way about the attitude of their elected
officials, the attitude by an elected official in
conducting their official duties, short of a viola
tion of the ASUO Constitution or the rules
promulgated under it, does not constitute a vi
able case for a recall of that student.” — Chief
Justice Randy Derrick in the ASUO’s Constitu
tion Court decision released on Hiesday
denying Snider’s petition.
“It’s not about their safety. It’s about writing
them up.” — University junior Michelle Rose,
a Resident Assistant at Barnhart for the 2003-04
school year, discussing the Housing Depart
ment’s policies requiring RAs to write up stu
dents they believe have been drinking alcohol.
She believes the process encourages student to
take undue risks in order to avoid the Residence
Halls after drinking.
“I think when you get into that decision,
that’s an unfortunate place to be in the
first place. The bad decision didn’t come as
to whether they should come home or not.
The poor decision was made when they chose
to get so intoxicated they weren’t able to
be safe somewhere or feel safe coming back
to the residence halls.” — Barnhart and
Riley Complex Director Stephen Jenkins ar
guing that the safety of residents is not
compromised by efforts by RAs to catch
students who drink.
— From Daily Emerald news reports
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