Iraqi press reactions to Bush re-election

MEMRI reports on Iraqi news coverage of the US elections.

Much can be said about this event, its meaning and consequences... I wish to express my feelings of happiness as a nationalist democratic Iraqi about this victory, which confirms anew the legitimacy and justice of the war of liberation of Iraq from the Saddam regime and the danger it had posed to the security of the region and the world.

"Kerry's opportunistic maneuvers with the Iraqi subject have failed, particularly his claims that Saddam did not represent a threat to the American and world security. We know that the Saddam danger was far greater than the danger of Al-Qa'ida and bin Laden because Saddam's regime had enormous capabilities in a very sensitive region and possessed forbidden weapons and capacities and programs to produce many types of these weapons. The betting on the defeat of Bush by the terrorists with all their tribes and branches, the nationalists, the Arab and European left, and the murderers in Fallujah, Ramadi, and Mosul, and the Iranian and Syrian regimes, has failed... These groups with disparate ideologies and objectives had one common denominator - a blind hatred for Bush. We offer them our deep condolences..."

Try finding "cheerleading" like this in the US press!

"...This is the difference between the values and habits in America and our values and thinking in the East. The common domestic animals in most of the villages in the [Middle] East are donkeys, mules, camels, sheep, and cows. What would people say in a [Middle] Eastern country if someone were to decorate the head or neck of a docile donkey, a dutiful mule a beautiful camel, a cow, a goat, or a sheep? The entire instruments of security, intelligence and the army will fly into a rage, and a state of emergency will be declared in search of the poor beast to be destroyed, to be followed by inflicting the most severe punishment on its owner! I say this for the sake of comparison, not for the sake of [advocating] the wrapping of animals with the national flag."

I'm pretty sure this means something to the Iraqis. :-)

In an editorial titled, "Iraqi Politicians Prefer the Election of Bush," the daily Al-Taakhi wrote about a number of Iraqi politicians who have expressed their support for the election of President Bush for a second term, because "the contrary will provide happy news to the terrorists."

The paper went on to say that Bush has committed certain mistakes, but the arrival of a different administration at the White House would have worsened the situation. It quotes Muwwafaq Al-Rabi'i, the national security adviser of the interim Iraqi government: "George Bush has a comprehensive view about Iraq. He has deposed Saddam Hussein and liberated the country." He concluded by saying that "Bush has a commitment toward Iraq and I believe his re-election will provide pleasant news to Iraq and bad news to the terrorists"

A lot of Americans agreed with Al-Rabi'i.

"If we look carefully, we will see that this assessment represents narrow mindedness apart from forgetting the sequencing of events. Since the 9/11 operation carried out by Al-Qa'ida in America, Bush has appeared stronger than before. While he made it to the White House the first time with the help of the courts, today he has won with a landslide. How do we explain that?

"Politics is measured by its practical results. By this measure, terrorism has strengthened the Bush administration and its unique theory of fighting it… By their fanaticism and the absence of a political horizon, [the terrorists] cannot distinguish between their political intentions and the practical consequences of their activities. For they have either been afflicted with political blindness, or have willy-nilly become an instrument of the Bush administration... How can these people not distinguish between the white and the black, if their intentions weren't dark?

"We call on our Iraqi brothers in political positions to expel them [the armed insurgents] from their ranks and choose the organized political work for unifying our people, removing the occupation, and building a democratic and just system that represents our interests."

Do elections and democracy have a chance in Iraq? If these comments are at all representative, yes!