Democracy Is Hard At The Beginning

Power Line reported yesterday on the progress being made in putting together the upcoming Iraqi elections.  There was a bit of a sticking point as hundreds of Sunni candidates who were planning on running in the elections were disqualified because of alleged ties to the Baath Party.  The Iraqi constitution states that former Baathists cannot hold public office.  A crisis in the election has been averted and a compromise reached. 

Max Boot at Commentary Magazine writes:

“A fragile but working democracy, an increase in foreign investment, a steep decline in attacks over the past several years–all these are signs that Iraq is hardly unraveling. That doesn’t mean that it is on a one-way flight to Nirvana. American vigilance and involvement remain essential. But an awful lot has gone right recently–more than I would have predicted back in 2007, when the surge was just beginning. Perhaps, just once in the Middle East, the pessimists will be proven wrong.”

Watching Iraq form a democracy is something like raising a teenager–there are a lot of things that can go wrong, but sometimes you just have to focus on the things that are going right.