Iran - Iraq war 2

Apparently the Shiites and Kurds understood because they went out and voted in numbers to get as many seats in the Parliament as possible. The only group who did not vote in numbers were the Sunnis, and they realized they had made a mistake by not voting as they only let the Kurds and Shiites gain more power. Wait till the November elections, I guarantee the Sunnis will be out voting in droves not to make the same mistake as they did last election.

Westpoint the Sunnis didnt vote because they belive that they can achvie there goals thou the insurgency. If you lived under Saddam for 30yrs would you understand the polictal process?

Yes but the Sunnis are not the majority of the Iraqi population they are about 10% so next time someone s says the Iraqi people don't understand the political process they should look a the Shiites and Kurds which make up about 90% of the population because they got out and voted.

en.wikipedia.org...


Edit to add commentary: I hate to do this to you WestPoint but I'm afraid your numbers are a bit off. Shia Islam is a relatively thin majority in Iraq, especially compared to other nations where your figure of 90% dominance of one side or the other is not uncommon at all.

Iraq has been a battleground between Shia and Sunni for a long time- the schism between the two was actually cemented at the Battle of Karbala, which is of course in what is now Iraq.
Iraq and Iran (Ottoman Empire and Persia) almost went at it in the late 19th century too, but the Brits stopped it and then WWI broke out before things could flare up again.

The struggle there is nothing new and it's the result of a very close mix there at the place where the split originated.

[edit on 30-3-2005 by The Vagabond]

But the Shiites and Kurds combined make a majority therefore Ira should be seen as a country who understands the political process and that most of Iraq voted.

Everybody "understands" the political process. It's not as if they were a pack of wild dogs who needed to be educated by our high and mighty Western democracy.
The operative question is this: will their beliefs accomodate compromise on a level which makes the political process viable? Democracy only works if the minority isn't committed enough to fight. As I have said, the insurgents probably can't enforce their will on Iraq's future, but still Iraq will never have a truly peaceful and prosperous future until the fighting is checked.

The Sunnis didn't fail to understand the political process- in fact their failure to vote was a political play. They were trying to deligitimize the election and make a show of opposition to the election. They believe that was the best way to support their efforts by force.