Will the US allow that?

[Shi Huangdi]

Won't happen. Iraqi population is too split between Shiites and Sunnis.

[Shi Huangdi]

Also, if we had to we could rig the election to make a secular candidate win.

[Bereta_Eder]

Ah, Shi is spreading more anti-americanism than even a communist could not do

[Sava]

There's nothing more that makes people hate America more than our own actions.

[MRT144]

Originally posted by Shi Huangdi
Also, if we had to we could rig the election to make a secular candidate win.

republicanism at its best i suppose.

[Sava]

Maybe Jeb Bush will become Iraq's new governor.

[Shi Huangdi]

We can send in Al Gore to do it for us. His last attempt to steal the election was foiled last time, but now that he's had some practice he should be better at it.

[Sava]

Originally posted by Shi Huangdi
We can send in Al Gore to do it for us. His last attempt to steal the election was foiled last time, but now that he's had some practice he should be better at it.

That's borderline sig material.

[Sir Og]

Originally posted by Sava
Maybe Jeb Bush will become Iraq's new governor.

That's a good one Sava.

[MRT144]

shi, youre so partisan, that you might have a career in the GOP if you keep it up.

[Bereta_Eder]

I laughed with that one too

[Spiffor]

Should there be a significant threat of Islamists taking over through elections, I think the US will have the constitution changed to have the presidency/government/senate/whatever as powerless as possible, and that would give very important powers to an 'independant' military and judiciary. Then, they'll tyr to bind the elected fundies to have their revendications very much smoothed over.

[Shi Huangdi]

(sending in al gore was a troll in case any of you managed to take that literally)

[Bosh]

Iraqi population is too split between Shiites and Sunnis.

But Shia are 60% of the population and the Kurds are more Sufi than orthodox Sunni in any case. Don't see how secularists could grab more than 30% of the vote, and they'd be dominated by Arab Sunni so the Kurds wouldn't want to deal with them. The only real democratic options are Shia domination or some kind of coalition between moderate but Islamist Shias and Kurdish nationalists.

Also this Tuesday there's supposed to be a GIANT Shia-organizated demonstration in Karbala against US rule. And in many towns in the south Shia clergy have taken over de facto control, there'll be hell if the US tries replacing them with exiles who haven't lived in the country for decades. Basically because of the totalitarian nature of the Ba'athist state the only real organizations that have any real structure at all are the Kurds and the Shia clergy, I just don't see how a anti-Ba'athist secularist party could build up the organizational infastructure to do much of anything besides be the platform of unpopular exiles.

[Shi Huangdi]

Right Boshko, But I'd think you would be making a mistake to assume 100% of Shiites going one way or the other- after all many of the people most welcoming to our troops were Shiite. Secular Shiites, Kurds, and Sunni might not be that kean on working with each other, but I'd think they would prefer that to Shiite fundamentalist domination.