Well, it’s a political bog– so we’re getting somewhere, it’s a political bog (quagmire?) instead of a military swamp. Will we hear the term “political Vietnam”? (Link is to the Washington Post, March 30.)
You have to read through the article to get to the quagmire implication (albeit rendered softly with the term”bogged down”):
The session was closed so Iraq’s newly minted politicians could once again find a way out of an embarrassing failure to start forming the country’s first freely elected government. Two months after the assembly was elected, negotiations among the various religious and ethnic groups appear to be increasingly bogged down, as politicians bicker over who will fill top posts.
[Quick note: I was on a radio show this morning and the hosts asked me specifically about this article–quoted the headline and the “grabber” bogged-down sentence.]
Faliure, quagmire, or difficult political process in a nation emerging from brutal dictatorship? I think this is another example of “minutes versus months” — the police blotter minute by minute report mentality that obscures or ignores long-term context.
I’m going to be a little bit harder on this Washington Post article than it deserves– the reporter, Caryle Murphy, does a fine job of capturing individual character and color. However, critiquing it serves to reinforce a point I’ve made regarding media coverage in Iraq, ie, police blotter and bomb by bomb versus operational and strategic achievements. The “time lens” can impart a “spin.”
For instance: On March 30, 2003 did the Washington Post anticipate covering a democratic Iraqi constitutional convention in Baghdad? Here’s a sentence that gives the report useful historical context. “Two years ago Iraq was under the control of a ruthless dictatorship where dissent was punished by prison or death.” A sentence like this would add geographic and historical context: “In a region where democracy is rare, in a nation with no democratic tradition, the give and take in Baghdad is a difficult but exciting experiment.” Does anyone disagree with the facts in that sentence? Democracy is rare in the Middle East, Iraq lacks a democratic tradition, the process is difficult? Perhaps quibblers will attack the word “exciting.” Yes indeed. For some the give and take new politics in Baghdad isn’t exciting, it’s threatening– like, mullahs in Iran, thugs in Syria, and DailyKos readers.
The closest the article comes to providing the deep context is this:
In Washington, President Bush told a group of Iraqi law students and religious figures: “The free people of Iraq are now doing what Saddam Hussein never could — making Iraq a positive example for the entire Middle East.”
That’s a hint of deep context– though it’s rendered as “Bush says” versus what the reporter sees.
The report’s big theme is “embarassing failure” and “bogged down.”
But is that where the Iraqis are? Or are they negotiating carefully and relentlessly, paying particular attention to the issue of Sunni participation?
The Post story includes this:
Hoping to form a government that would capture the loyalty of Iraq’s disaffected Sunni Arabs, a minority that largely boycotted the elections, the Shiites and Kurds have reserved some posts for Sunnis in the government, most notably the assembly speakership.
After the leading candidate abruptly withdrew Monday, Sunni parliamentary members could not agree on an alternative in time for Tuesday’s session. “We have to come up with a nominee for that position” by Sunday, Hasani said. He is not interested in the job, he said, because he prefers to be defense minister, another post widely expected to go to a Sunni.
If the Sunnis do not produce their own candidate by Sunday, the assembly will elect a speaker anyway, several lawmakers said.
Recall my earlier post about Allawi’s “add don’t subtract” approach to the Sunnis and former Baathists. Addition is tough, particular when terrorists intimidate with bombs and beheadings. Democratic political processes are slow– it’s difficult fixing potholes in Austin, Texas. The job in Baghdad is of course many quanta more difficult, delicate, and significant.
But the big words are “failure” and “bogged down.”
In its on-line edition (apparently A9 in the paper), the Post does include a report quoting President Bush on Baghdadi politics.
President Bush said yesterday that Iraq is on the verge of creating a diverse government that respects the country’s deep religious and ethnic divisions, despite the turmoil and delays.
While the president was speaking optimistically about Iraq’s future, first lady Laura Bush flew to Afghanistan to award $21 million in education grants as part of the U.S. effort to spread democracy in Muslim countries.
I’ll add this, too:
He did not specifically discuss the bitter disputes between Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish factions that surfaced at yesterday’s meeting, which are complicating efforts to choose a speaker and get the new government up and running.
Any differences, Bush said, “will be resolved through debate and persuasion instead of force and intimidation.” While Iraqis are debating the specifics of the new government, Bush said political leaders there “are determined that the government will be representative of their country’s diverse population.” Sunni Arabs, a minority that did poorly in the January elections, have complained about being left out of a process dominated by the majority Shiite population.
The new nationally elected assembly plans on writing a constitution by October and holding new elections by year’s end.
Problems aside, Bush said the Iraqis are a “positive example” to others in the Middle East and are inspiring others who desire democracy to pursue it though protest, elections and governmental reforms…
A editor would make the case that one story provides context for the other– and I don’t disagree. I’m glad to see both stories. However, the on line Washing Post places the “floundering” story first, renders the headline in large type, and expands on it with the bogged-down “push quote” . It is — to appropriate a phrase– “sexed up.” The link to the Bush story appears in small type– suggesting a visual after-thought. (My copy doesn’t capture the type differential, but does illustrate the arrangement. Here’s a link to the WP’s World page with the headlines, though I doubt that it’s a permanent link.)
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Two Months In, Iraq Is Still Foundering
Negotiations among the various religious and ethnic groups appear to be increasingly bogged down, as politicians bicker over who will fill top posts.
? Bush Predicts Rifts Will Mend
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