The Middle Path

The Tao that can be known is not the Tao...

"With us or with the terrrrrists," said Bush in the wake of 9/11. And for the simpletons who follow him, that equation has never changed. Anyone who opposes Bush, according to their logic, therefore supported Saddam, supports terrorism and probably supports abortion, gay rights and Pol Pot as well.

In the real world, it's not that simple, as Iraqis showed yesterday. Caught between the two violent extremes that are tearing their country apart, most wanted to make it clear that they reject both.

Robert Fisk walks the fine line between admiration for the brave and idealistic Iraqis who voted, and scepticism about the what will be the real value of their efforts:

It was easy to imbibe the false optimism of the Western television networks and the nonsense about Iraq's "historic" day - for it will only have been historic if it changes this country, and many fear that it will not.

No one I met yesterday believes the insurgency will end - many thought it would grow more ferocious - and the Shi'ites in the polling stations said with one voice that they were also voting to rid Iraq of the Americans, not to legitimise their presence.

Fisk also provides this memorable quote from a Sunni who did not vote:

"Before, we had Saddam and he was a cruel man and he treated us cruelly. But what will happen after this election is that you will give us lots of little Saddams."

An Al-Jazeera report says the high polling station turnout figures may have been influenced by a degree of exhiliration. Eric Alterman recommends a considerable degree of skepticism about what we are seeing and hearing on Day One:

The imaginary turnout numbers have already fallen from 72 percent when I checked at 6.00 pm yesterday, to 57 percent this morning. At that rate, they will be negative by Wednesday.

While Kos provides this interesting press clip from 1967:

U.S. Encouraged by Vietnam Vote :
Officials Cite 83% Turnout Despite Vietcong Terror
by Peter Grose, Special to the New York Times (9/4/1967: p. 2)

WASHINGTON, Sept. 3-- United States officials were surprised and heartened today at the size of turnout in South Vietnam's presidential election despite a Vietcong terrorist campaign to disrupt the voting.

According to reports from Saigon, 83 per cent of the 5.85 million registered voters cast their ballots yesterday. Many of them risked reprisals threatened by the Vietcong.

On a somewhat different note, why would the CIA want to suppress information about the US government's involvement with Nazi war criminals who came to the USA after WWII?