Iraqis Demonstrate Over "Rigged" Elections

It would seem as though some in Iraq have been taking tactical advice from Democrat politicos here in America. If you lose the election, claim the elections were rigged.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Protesters gathered across the country Friday to denounce parliamentary elections that demonstrators called rigged in favor of the main religious Shiite coalition.

In Baghdad, unknown assailants kidnapped a Sudanese diplomat and five other men as they left prayers at a mosque, a spokesman for Sudan's Foreign Ministry said. An Iraqi Foreign Ministry official said he had not heard of the abduction.

As many as 20,000 people demonstrated after noon prayers in southern Baghdad Friday in a protest organized by Sunni Arab groups and attended by representatives of secular Shia parties.

Many Iraqis outside the religious Shiite coalition allege that the elections were unfair to smaller Sunni Arab and secular Shiite groups.

"We refuse the cheating and forgery in the elections," read one banner among many decrying the elections.

I don't think this violence and protest surprises many people. The Sunni minority, who were in power for so long under Saddam Hussein, have a vested interest in protecting themselves as a minority under Shiite and Kurdish rule. The Sunnis participated in the elections, and that's a hopeful sign, but violence has been part of their politics for so long that resorting to it is probably second nature.

But Iraq will get through this. The key is to fight those who would do violence, allow those who are merely protesting or demonstrating to have their say and order the proper investigations into alleged balloting fraud. A full and transparent investigation into allegations of wrong-doing would likely going a long way in quelling the violence.

Still, even though Iraq is not a constitutional democracy, things are going to be tense there for some time. It will likely take decades before a lot of that tension eases. After all, democracies are not built from the rabble of violence and oppression over night. If we leave Iraq with its political processes in place and enough security forces to fight through these riots and keep the government from being overturned everything will work out in the end.

You can read more from Rob Port at SayAnythingBlog.com