EDITORIAL

Mar 9, 2010 — The Salt Lake Tribune

Mar. 9, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- Once again, Iraqi voters have defied bombings and other threats on their lives to cast ballots. It certainly is inspiring. We wonder how many Americans would risk their lives to vote.

Reports say that 62 percent of registered Iraqis cast ballots. If there is hope for the future of a democratic Iraq, this is it. By comparison, 68 percent of registered Utah voters cast ballots in the 2008 general election, and no one was shooting at them.

We realize that elections can be stolen and that corrupt politicians can undermine and ignore and co-opt the popular will. Still, it is a hopeful sign that Iraqis have turned to the ballot box for a second time following the U.S. invasion of 2003 to shape their national destiny. Though the turnout in Sunday's national election in Iraq was not quite as solid as it was in 2005, it still was a very respectable showing. Give the people a voice and they will try to make themselves heard, even at great peril.

One major difference between the 2005 and 2010 elections is the participation of Sunni Arabs in the process. This group mostly boycotted the 2005 election and largely disenfranchised itself, casting its lot with the insurgency. That strategy ultimately failed. This time there is much greater Sunni participation in the elections in the hope that more Sunni parties and representatives will be elected to parliament, where they will have direct influence on the government. That must be considered a positive development.

Even so, the Iraqi democratic experiment remains atomized by religious and ethnic divisions. The majority Shiite Arabs are in a contest for power with minority Sunni Arabs and with Sunni Kurds, as well as with other smaller ethnic and religious minorities. There are further divisions within each ethnic and sectarian community. There even are some secular parties that are attempting to bridge these divides.

The upshot appears to be that no one party or coalition will emerge from the election with enough votes in parliament to govern. That portends months of deal-making to form a government. In the background lies Iran, which attempts to influence its Shiite brethren in Iraq for its own gain.

Americans can only hope that a government capable of robust security and competent administration will emerge from this process so that the United States can complete its timetable for withdrawing combat forces by the end of next year. Cross your fingers.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0192-42695992