Iraq's Sunnis Dissatisfied

As reported in the New York Times...

Abu Omar, a large white-haired man and the owner of an appliance repair shop, emerged from a pile of electrical parts to say Sunday's elections should never have been held.

"How do you hold an election when an entire city was obliterated a month ago?" Mr. Omar asked, referring to Falluja. "When they arrested a Sunni cleric inside his mosque, arrested Sunni party leaders?"

Mr. Omar let out a long sigh.

"I wish Saddam was here," he said. "None of this would have happened."


the excerpts above were from the article: Low Voting Rate Risks Isolation for Sunni Iraqis


Clearly these elections proceeded for the good of George Bush's image on the Iraq war issue, not for the good of Iraq or its people. Of course the Shia majority are going to be pleased with the elections. They had been persecuted since the country's inception and now find themselves in power. And obviously the Kurds are thrilled; they no longer have to worry about the threat of chemical weapons mercilessly unleashed on their villages. Many Sunnis supported having elections, but favored a delay. Their areas have been the ones destroyed by the fighting of late. They needed more time. But George Bush's push for elections before his State of the Union address superceded the needs of the Iraqi people.

I'm not saying that Iraq would be better off with Saddam Hussein in power. I don't live there, how would I know? All I'm saying is that, Abu Omar does.