February 05, 2005

U.S. 'in for a shock': In early election results, Shiite cleric's alliance trouncing Washington's favorite.
posted by HawthorneWingo 19 years ago
  • Good! Maybe the Sistani tsunami will have legitimacy.
  • I'm beginning to face the idea that, through sheer dumb luck, Bush's mideast BS (which I doubt even he believed) might come true. Remember all that crap he was spewing about how a US-placed democratic Iraq would lead to a domino effect? Well, Sistani is a moderate. If he stays in character (and, of course, if he becomes leader) he'll make Iraq a pretty solidly Islamic republic, but he WILL keep the democratic system in place. And in the meantime, he's almost certain to establish close ties to Iran. Can one imagine a better influence on Iran than their newly-found best friend being a stable Islamic democracy? Plus, a partnership between them would be a great stablizing factor on the Middle East in general. And, it would make it exponentially more difficult for us to move directly against Iran. If they're suddenly good buds with Iraq, we're going to be pretty much forced to go by the "friend of my friend" rule. (or else, what? Re-invade Iraq and tell them to try again?) Of course, the other option is that they'll just unite against us. But, again... WE did this. WE put the democracy in place... We would have no choice but to live with whatever fallout occurs, if we wanted to retain any shred of legitimacy in the eyes of the world. Interesting, huh? We could have, completely unintentionally, provided the mechanism for Mideast peace - and all it will have taken is to get them to all sit down and realize their real common enemy is us.
  • Beyond the Euphrates began for us the land of mirage and danger, the sands where one helplessly sank, and the roads which ended in nothing. The slightest reversal would have resulted in a jolt to our prestige giving rise to all kinds of catastrophe; the problem was not only to conquer but to conquer again and again, perpetually; our forces would be drained off in the attempt." Emperor Hadrian AD 117-138