Letters to the Editor —

Democracy
in Iraq?

In all the major American news
sources. | keep hearing that Iraq sue-
cessfully had its Hirst democratic clee-
tion. All of these news sources are fas
usual’ overlooking some important
facts that people should consider.

First. the new politcal parties in
Traq aren't exactly what we would con-
sider ‘political’ parties. There is no
conveniently one-dimensional political
spectrum like we have: no Republicans
or Democrats. no Liberals — or
Conservatives. People didn't go to the
polls thinking “Hmm, Saddam was a
litte too right wing for my tastes, 7m
going to voté for the socialists.”

Instead. the most popular political

parties are founded along. religious
and ethnic lines, like the projected
winning party The United Iraqi
Alhance endorsed by Iraq’s senior
Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al
Sistani. The Shiite Muslims make us
about 60% of Iraq’s population,
which means that no matter how
many Iraqi’s vote, the Shiite party is
always going to win.

Imagine if in the United States
there was one Catholic party support-
ed only by Catholics, and a Protestant
party supported only by its followers,
aud you'd have a political system simi-
lar to that in Iraq nght now. The win-
ning party woukdn’t depend on any
political stance, but rather the percent-
age of the population that shares reli-
gious cthnicity with the party.

Can Iraq be called a democracy?
Etymologically yes, but not in the way
we understand the term. One thing is

stolencarshow.ca

SEE TRASHED AND STRIPPED CARS.

for sure, Iraq will be slightly better off
in the future with Saddam’s linc out of
power, but for Bush’s government to
claim they brought democracy to Iraq
is a little much. If anything they have
primed it for decades of civil war,
which as sad as it is; may be in the best
interests of the American military
when they withdraw trom Iraq. The
logic goes that if Iraqis are fighting
cach other, they’ not fighting
Americans.

T hope that Iraq will one dav devel-
op a political system where people
don’t vote along ethnic lines, but I
doubt that the profitecring interests of
the American-presence in the country
will have anything constructive to do
with it. Instead, democracy will even-
tually come to Iraq through the virtuc
and perseverance of the lraqi people.

EARSON GIBSON

Blown out of
Proportion

The idea that anyone could com-
pare the paper's stance on gay mar-
riage, or it’s editorial content to the
actions of Hitler (Tony Donovan's
Letter to the Editor - Edge: Issue 2)
speaks volumes for our ability to
magnify our perccived slights.

We have just passed the 60th
anniversary of the liberation of the
Auschwitz and I find it reprehensible
that Mr Donovan would choose to
compare the editorial cartoon in this
newspaper. to what went on across
Europe while Hitler was in power.

While newspapers during -that
time used cditorial cartoons to push a
public agenda (as have almost all gov-

ernments) the actions of the govern-
ment and its state machinery also
acted to ghettoize and cxterminate
eleven million people including the
Jews, homosexuals, intellectuals, gyp-
sics, Poles, Jchovah’s Witnesses, Slavs
and the physically and mentally
handicapped.

Mr. Donovan may feel slighted by
the editorial cartoon and may be
offended, but editorial cartoons are
opinions, they are meant to he chal-
lenging and, in the end, are meant to
provoke discussion. To compare that
cartoon to the craven destruction of
an entire race of people is disgusting.
I'd ask Mr. Donovan to try to get
some sense of proportion next time
he feels the need to vent.

SIMON GORING
ALUMAI

IMMOBILIZERS