- Jun 6, 2007
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Iraqi Shiites are making a gigantic size mistake with their banning Sunni candidates from being on the ballot for the upcoming elections because of their involvement with the former Baath Party of Saddam Hussein. It makes no difference that this ban is being accomplished through the Iraqi Judiciary through an appeal process, the Iraqi shiite community is behind it and could stop this if it wanted to. This is a huge mistake because it is alienating the Iraqi Sunni community and it could cause Iraqi Sunni citizens to choose not to vote in the upcoming election which could sow the seeds of resentment and anger toward Iraqi Shiites from the Iraqi Sunni community. The world already knows that many of the militants and terrorists currently operating in Iraq hail from the Sunni community so instead of this upcoming election being a step forward in bringing and end to this Sunni violence by undercutting these perpetrators of murder support by making the path clear to advancing Sunni goals through the political process it will strengthen their hand - what a disaster for Iraq and its friends throughout the world that have paid such dear prices for Iraq to have a good future.
This banning of Sunni candidate because of past involvement with the Baath party doesn't make any sense whatsoever and is unjust. First, penalizing Iraqi Sunnis for belonging to the Baath party would be like the former Soviet Union countries banning their citizens from running for public office if they belonged to the old Soviet Union Communist Party. People had to belong if they wanted to advance in their careers and provide for their family. The standard for banning Iraqi candidates because of their involvement with the Saddam Hussein regime should be if there is clear and compelling evidence that they were involved in an act(s) of violence against an Iraqi then they should be banned, this guilt by association standard which this Baath Party involvement test is is unjust. Furthermore, this whole witch hunt effort by Shiites to ban Sunnis from being on the ballot wreaks of a double standard. Back around 2007, when the violence against Iraqi civilians was at shocking levels, the world knew that there was Shiite death squads operating (killing innocent Sunnis) and knew that many Sunnis fled Baghdad Sunni neighborhoods because Shiites were conducting ethnic cleansing campaigns. Iraqi Shiites should focus on the glaring truth that many Shiites in the Iraqi parliament and many who are on the upcoming ballot are culpable in this Sunni violence they were and in many cases are allies of the Shiite perpetrators of this violence. The Iraqi Shiite community are hypocrites with this ban on Sunni candidates.
The Iraqi Sunni community is poised to handle this unjust Sunni candidate ban unwisely. They are poised to pursue not participating in the elections as a protest. This move is exactly the opposite of what is in the best interest of the Sunni community. Even with the ban there will be many Sunni candidates on the ballot granted these Sunni candidates may not be as strong as some of the banned candidates nonetheless they are Sunni and hold values that look after the interests of the Sunni community. The wise move for the Sunni community is to use this unjust ban to rally Sunni citizens to vote in the upcoming election in outstandingly large numbers so that the Sunni community will have strong political power after the election because the truth of the matter is that parliamentary votes equal power that is parliamentary seats equal power and the more seats the Sunni community can get no matter who the Sunni is that fills them equals the stronger power.
A couple of stand out perspectives of this whole Sunni candidate ban episode. What a disappointment Prime Minister Maliki is in this whole episode, the Prime Minister is a smart man he knows that Iraq needs to cooperation of the Sunni to move the country forward. Moreover, the Prime Minister knows the danger of alienating the Sunni community in a time when Sunni militancy and terrorism is an ongoing reality that could get worse the Prime Minister was in office back around 2007 when Iraq was on the brink of Civil War. Prime Minister Maliki because of his stature if he advocated publicly that this ban is wrong and unjust and should be stopped the Iraqi people would find a way to stop these bans. Another great Iraqi leader that is failing his people at this critical juncture in Iraqi history is Grand Ayatollah al Sistani. This Sunni candidate ban issue is a security crisis of the greatest proportion for Iraq. If this ban stays in place and Sunnis stay away from the polls in protest over the ensuing years the Sunni community's frustration and anger will stew as they have to endure deprived political power and this will certainly bubble over to terroristic violence in Iraq. The Grand Ayatollah al Sistani with his unparalleled power could stop this injustice from occurring and by his essentially refraining to use his power on this issue is signing the death warrants of hundreds if not thousands of Iraqis that will be killed by this terroristic violence in Iraq over the ensuing years.
Countries throughout the world that have sacrificed their soldiers providing security in Iraq in trying to create the Iraq nation over the past seven years should be working to stop this foolish ban and the potential alienation of the Iraqi Sunni community. Sunni countries in the Middle East should appeal to the Sunni communities in Iraq not to boycott the upcoming Iraqi election they should advise it is better for Iraqi Sunnis to participate because they will end-up after the election with more political power than if they boycotted and they will better able to advance their causes. These Sunni Middle East and non-Sunni Middle East countries all have a vested interest in Iraq's success; Iraq with its natural resource wealth and its history of being a very developed society could very readily become a prosperous, democratic and peaceful nation where terrorism and militancy is not a threat and thus it could be a role model and inspiration for other Middle Eastern countries and thus be a real treasure for all Middle Eastern people and for that matter all people throughout the world.
This banning of Sunni candidate because of past involvement with the Baath party doesn't make any sense whatsoever and is unjust. First, penalizing Iraqi Sunnis for belonging to the Baath party would be like the former Soviet Union countries banning their citizens from running for public office if they belonged to the old Soviet Union Communist Party. People had to belong if they wanted to advance in their careers and provide for their family. The standard for banning Iraqi candidates because of their involvement with the Saddam Hussein regime should be if there is clear and compelling evidence that they were involved in an act(s) of violence against an Iraqi then they should be banned, this guilt by association standard which this Baath Party involvement test is is unjust. Furthermore, this whole witch hunt effort by Shiites to ban Sunnis from being on the ballot wreaks of a double standard. Back around 2007, when the violence against Iraqi civilians was at shocking levels, the world knew that there was Shiite death squads operating (killing innocent Sunnis) and knew that many Sunnis fled Baghdad Sunni neighborhoods because Shiites were conducting ethnic cleansing campaigns. Iraqi Shiites should focus on the glaring truth that many Shiites in the Iraqi parliament and many who are on the upcoming ballot are culpable in this Sunni violence they were and in many cases are allies of the Shiite perpetrators of this violence. The Iraqi Shiite community are hypocrites with this ban on Sunni candidates.
The Iraqi Sunni community is poised to handle this unjust Sunni candidate ban unwisely. They are poised to pursue not participating in the elections as a protest. This move is exactly the opposite of what is in the best interest of the Sunni community. Even with the ban there will be many Sunni candidates on the ballot granted these Sunni candidates may not be as strong as some of the banned candidates nonetheless they are Sunni and hold values that look after the interests of the Sunni community. The wise move for the Sunni community is to use this unjust ban to rally Sunni citizens to vote in the upcoming election in outstandingly large numbers so that the Sunni community will have strong political power after the election because the truth of the matter is that parliamentary votes equal power that is parliamentary seats equal power and the more seats the Sunni community can get no matter who the Sunni is that fills them equals the stronger power.
A couple of stand out perspectives of this whole Sunni candidate ban episode. What a disappointment Prime Minister Maliki is in this whole episode, the Prime Minister is a smart man he knows that Iraq needs to cooperation of the Sunni to move the country forward. Moreover, the Prime Minister knows the danger of alienating the Sunni community in a time when Sunni militancy and terrorism is an ongoing reality that could get worse the Prime Minister was in office back around 2007 when Iraq was on the brink of Civil War. Prime Minister Maliki because of his stature if he advocated publicly that this ban is wrong and unjust and should be stopped the Iraqi people would find a way to stop these bans. Another great Iraqi leader that is failing his people at this critical juncture in Iraqi history is Grand Ayatollah al Sistani. This Sunni candidate ban issue is a security crisis of the greatest proportion for Iraq. If this ban stays in place and Sunnis stay away from the polls in protest over the ensuing years the Sunni community's frustration and anger will stew as they have to endure deprived political power and this will certainly bubble over to terroristic violence in Iraq. The Grand Ayatollah al Sistani with his unparalleled power could stop this injustice from occurring and by his essentially refraining to use his power on this issue is signing the death warrants of hundreds if not thousands of Iraqis that will be killed by this terroristic violence in Iraq over the ensuing years.
Countries throughout the world that have sacrificed their soldiers providing security in Iraq in trying to create the Iraq nation over the past seven years should be working to stop this foolish ban and the potential alienation of the Iraqi Sunni community. Sunni countries in the Middle East should appeal to the Sunni communities in Iraq not to boycott the upcoming Iraqi election they should advise it is better for Iraqi Sunnis to participate because they will end-up after the election with more political power than if they boycotted and they will better able to advance their causes. These Sunni Middle East and non-Sunni Middle East countries all have a vested interest in Iraq's success; Iraq with its natural resource wealth and its history of being a very developed society could very readily become a prosperous, democratic and peaceful nation where terrorism and militancy is not a threat and thus it could be a role model and inspiration for other Middle Eastern countries and thus be a real treasure for all Middle Eastern people and for that matter all people throughout the world.
