It’s true, especially in countries we depend on for oil. Democracy gets in the way. Democracy cedes control to the people. “The people” of Iraq don’t want what American policymakers want. What good is that? We’re the United States of America. We’re supposed to get what we want.
Earlier this year, Iraq held an election for prime minister. “The people” split their votes: half for Nouri al-Maliki, half for Ayad Allawi. In such a contested election, the Parliament decides.
In Parliament, a large bloc of voters, known as the “Sadrists,” were undecided. In American politics, we’d call them “swing voters.” Their votes would swing the election either to al-Maliki or Allawi.
American policymakers don’t like the Sadrists. Muqtada al-Sadr and his followers repeatedly called for an end to the American occupation of Iraq, and their hardline brand of Shiite Islam aligns them with the Ayatollah of Iran.
The Sadrists supported al-Maliki, who is now forming his cabinet. Sadrists will almost certainly fill a few positions in that cabinet. It’s the least al-Maliki can do to repay them for making him prime minister.
That’s a problem for Washington. The State Department doesn’t want a fire-breathing, anti-American crusader in charge of Iraq’s Ministry of Defense.
But what can we do? They followed the rules — rules that we helped write. The price we pay for democracy is accepting the fact that we won’t always like the people who get elected (or, in this case, appointed by the person who got elected). Right?
Don’t be fooled. Our leaders don’t really believe in democracy.
The United States is threatening to cut off aid to Iraq’s Education, Health, and Transport ministries if al-Maliki appoints Sadrists to any of those posts.
I have three questions. First, why should Iraqis risk their lives to create a constitutional democracy, vote in every election, and follow the rules if the U.S. will override their decisions? Second, why are our leaders increasing the risk of a terror attack? After all, every study shows that terrorists are motivated primarily by perceived political injustices, such as our perennial support of governments that restrict the rights of citizens in the Middle East.
And third, since we’re targeting the Education and Health ministries: Haven’t the children and the sick of Iraq suffered enough? What did they do to us to deserve this punishment?
America was not designed as a Democracy. It is a form of democracy. We were founded as a Constitutional Republic with Limited Government and Free Enterprise.
It indeed may be transformed into a Democracy now but sadly that is what has caused our demise today. We now have big government meddlling into all kinds of personal affairs of all Americans in the name of compassion. But it has only lead to our problems and, sadly, our downfall from prosperity.
Will prosperity ever return? Only if we remove the shackles of ever bigger government, ie socialism, and rediscover our heritage and renew ourselves to the original intent of our founding documents and founders. A re-reading of our Constitution and Declaration of Independence says it all. Time has not changed those facts and maybe even, now, confirms it even more.
@Jerry Notaro “Republic” is just another word for “representative democracy.”
The limits on government in the US are all spelled out by our Constitution and the Constitutional law that has been decided by the judicial branch. No matter what label Mr. Notaro gives to our government, most elections are decided by majority rule, except in the US Senate which has devised a system of 41 per cent controlling the wishes of the other 59 per cent.
We do not have a “downfall from prosperity” in this nation if one is discussing the wealth of the top 5 per cent of our citizens, which happens to be more than 50 per cent of TOTAL wealth in the United States. As Mr. Orlando has pointed out many times, the last 30 years has seen the income of the middle class actually DECREASE in 1978 dollars while the upper two per cent have gained TEN TIMES their wealth since 1981. So, where is this sad state of affairs falling, Mr. Notaro? On the other 95 per cent of Americans who are not rich. So, prosperity has never left for the wealthy over the past 30 years, and since they control Congress and ,somehow, public opinion, what does it matter if ten per cent of the homes are in foreclosure? Just so the wealthy can pass along their $10 million tax free estates, all will be well in America.
As a student of American history, it is plain that what is happening since 2000 is the same repeat performance from US history in the 1870’s and the early 1900’s before Teddy Roosevelt finally broke up the monopolies which have AGAIN reasserted themselves in the current business climate and legislative climate. As has been true since the Middle Ages, there re the greedy rich and the oppressed and cluless peasants and that is where the eternal struggle lies and that is where the banality of evil emanating from greed exists right here in the US as it does everywhere else. I am conservative in that I do NOT believe in the perfectibility of human nature – that is WHY we have governement at all !
If you would read the excellent and over 2000 page volume set of the Federalist papers published by New American Library, you would find the exact same problems we are having now discussed in the 1780’s. And, as the Founders’ feared, our Senate has turned into a separate branch of government in itself. It sets its own rules, it DEMANDS 60 per cent super majorities on ALL votes, or the laws don’t even make it to the floor of the Senate. So, we are, at most a semi-Democracy or really, a pseudo-democracy, since majhority vote is not enough to get legislation even voted upon.
Unemployment will NT fall below 9 per cent for the next 3-4 years. It will not fall below 7 per cent until perhaps next decade, if it ever does. It is going to take another Teddy Rooselvelt to harness the increasing anger of the middle class, and that includes the Tea Party, to completely break the hold of business lobbies, insurance companies, energy companies, the health industry and Wall Street and the banks. That may happen maybe in the 2020’s, when by then all of the middle class will be lower class and all of us will be working for $8 an hour while the 5 per cent rich own 75 per cent of the wealth. I pity our children, since only one out of 20 will have a life above lower middle class.
Our only hope otherwise is demographic – when we elect the first Latino President in 30 years or so, with a Far East Vice-President and a Congress which is ruled by the oppressed former middle classes and minorities which will by then be majorities. Immigration will be our salvation, but it will take 30 more years…unless the people revolt first.