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i am against these particular elections because of their timing, their character, and their obvious political motivations. i am against these particular elections because they will, in my view, do more to harm the idea of elections than they will help them. i am against these particular elections because they are not happening in conditions that allow the legitimacy that such elections should have.
then there is the level of particular procedures.
then there is the nature of the allawi regime.
then there is the ongoing nature of the american occupation.
i think that the elections should be postponed.
this is not an opposition to elections in general, so dont confuse the two.
as for the relation of my position on the war to this--the question is complex and i have thought about it quite alot. i think i can seperate the two issues (no-one can ever be sure about this--i could pose the same question to you about your relative support for the elections and your relative support for the war [even though i am not so sure about your exact position on the issue--but i hope you see my point])
it has come down to whether i think it worthwhile to go even further in undercutting the value of the language of democracy by continuing with these particular elections in this particular situation.
what possible good would/could come of such a continuation of the erosion of this language? [edit: that of democracy, even in its weak american variant--thanks mostly to plato]
it is bad enough that the war was launched on fabricated grounds--and that everyone, iraqis included, knows this.
it is bad enough that every day, in most of iraq, you have a direct, material contradiction between the ideology wrapped round this war and conditions on the ground.
it seems to me that the elections are seen--widely--as something of a charade--but at the same time, it also seems that folk are to an extent hopeful about them--which means, to me at least, that it is important that the elections happen in conditions that do not undermine the functions they are meant to serve. i think the consequences of them turning into a farce far far outweigh the questions that might be raised by postponing them.
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a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle
spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear
it make you sick.
-kamau brathwaite
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