Reconstruction: how much of our ideology will (or for that matter can) we impose?

[Buddha Bart]

At several points in time we've heard president bush and others warn saddam not to burn the oil, for "that oil belongs to the iraqi people."

Socialism/communism? Or just a figure of speech?

I'm sure we plan to bring a democratically elected government to Iraq, but what about the other key tenets of our society.

Capatalism? Most of the valuable things in the country were owned by saddam, the ba'ath party, and assorted other n'er do wells. How will we redistribute the wealth. (heh, sorry for the use of that phrase)

Seperation of Church and State/Secularism? While declaring neither shall touch the other would be completely impossible, how secular and liberal a state could we setup? How would women, homosexuals, jews, etc fare under the new Iraqi government.

bart

 

[junkyardDawg]

if we try to impose our ideology on Iraq this thing will turn ugly quick

what worries me is if fair elections are set up and they elect a fundamentalist Islamic govt.

fundamental shiites are probably a large plurality if not a majority

 

[jjones]

I think the only thing we can really do is ensure that the democratic processes get set up with a solid foundation. The beginnings of which will be an Iraqi constitution and the safeguarding of the democratic process so that as little strong-arm practices are employed as possible when it comes time to elect the leadership.

There will have to be some sort of land referendum I would think, but many land issues may well resolve themselves at the local level. And definately the establishment of a stabilized Iraqi banking system and the dinar will be necessary. Other than that, I think we'll see some form of capitalism practiced.

As for the separation of church and state, that can be addressed in their new constitution and hopefully it will. There will be a real challenge in tackling this problem because Islamic faith has such strong roots in the minds of most of the people and it is quite possible that they can be maneuvered into electing cleric oriented leadership that will try to bring in Sharia law. I think the key will ultimately be the makeup of the Iraqi military and to see that its leadership is primarily secular oriented and committed to protecting the nation and the constitution. This, along with a representative parliament or congress should insure that a particular leader is not able to come to power and then just dump the constitution.

Edit: Forgot two very fundamental issues, education and employment. These need to be addressed immediately following the stabilization of basic services.

Edit (2): Interesting. Here's a BBC article talking about just this subject.

 

[SuperTool]

What if the Baath party wants to run in elections?

 

[Looney]

Why couldn't the government own the oil? Much of the US utility services were government run until recently i believe... or put it up on the stock exchange and allow the Iraqi people to invest in it. I really don't see why redistribution of wealth would be so difficult.

 

[Moonbeam]

I propose that we stumble from one crisis to the next till we collapse economically and somebody else takes the reins as the only superpower, China, for example. I believe in going with the flow.

 

[0roo0roo]

protection of minorities? gotta make sure its not just mob rule.

 

[wnied]

The biggest problem so far that I've seen seems to be Iranian and Syrian "rabble rousers" who work up a crowd good and ugly against the current rule to further their motive of creating a sister state of one another in their vulnerable neighbor.

~wnied~

 

[BarneyFife]

Originally posted by: SuperTool
What if the Baath party wants to run in elections?

Yea. What if Saddam wants to run for president? If these are truly free elections then he should be able to run again.

 

[LunarRay]

Originally posted by: BarneyFife

Originally posted by: SuperTool
What if the Baath party wants to run in elections?

Yea. What if Saddam wants to run for president? If these are truly free elections then he should be able to run again.

Bush would win again in a land slide victory in the little outpost beyond the beyonds and claim victory in Iraq... What would Bush look like in Arab garb...?

 

[jjones]

Originally posted by: BarneyFife

Originally posted by: SuperTool
What if the Baath party wants to run in elections?

Yea. What if Saddam wants to run for president? If these are truly free elections then he should be able to run again.

I don't think prisoners or presidents in exile will be on the ballot.

 

[43st]

Originally posted by: jjones

Originally posted by: BarneyFife

Originally posted by: SuperTool
What if the Baath party wants to run in elections?

Yea. What if Saddam wants to run for president? If these are truly free elections then he should be able to run again.

I don't think prisoners or presidents in exile will be on the ballot.

I thought they were supposed to be free? How can you squak about havng free elections and then start denying access to certain parties? Of yeah I get it... "There ought to be limits to freedom".

"Freedom" is just another bullshit buzzword. Yeah, you're free... for me to poop on!

 

[syzygy]

I thought they were supposed to be free? How can you squak about havng free elections and then start denying access to certain parties? Of yeah I get it... "There ought to be limits to freedom".

allowing saddam and his blood-soaked cronies into the election process would be more a free-for-all than free. besides, saddam has a laundry list of human rights crimes to answer to for his behavior towards the kurds, his own citizens, kuwait, and any outstanding charges iran may care to follow through for his conduct against them during their war.

and if he isn't in a hole yet, he will be holed up in a maximum security prison in europe or the u.s. when found. maybe
he noriega will one day be bunk buddies.

try not to forget that with freedom comes basic responsibility. however the electoral pie is carved there, we need
to ensure the process and the future gov't is accountable, transparent, pluralistic, representative, and with built-in
checks and balances. their economy can be controlled, free market, or somewhere in-between.