Iraqis See Democracy At Work In Security Pact Debate

Photo from The Telegraph

From Times Online:

One topic dominates conversation between four men huddled around a table in a Baghdad coffee shop playing cards. It is the same at a hairdressers nearby, and inside many of the city’s dilapidated taxi cabs.

All across Iraq, a heated debate in Parliament over whether or not to approve a security deal with the United States has people tuning into radio stations or watching television to witness often noisy exchanges between their MPs.

For many, this is a new experience of democracy because there were no public airings of decision-making in Saddam Hussein’s time and, since his downfall, few Iraqis have shown an interest in the fledgling politicians who replaced him.

Others simply watched snippets of the political pantomime because they found it entertaining to see grown men and women pounding tables in anger, shouting each other down and, at one point, almost coming to blows.

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My Comment: Everyone is Iraq is starting to learn how "the sausage is made". This is a good development .... though frustrating to those who may wish things could hurry up.