If you have time to read only one analysis of the Iraqi constitutional referendum, read this World Defense Review piece by Walid Phares. The closing paragraphs:
The Distribution of Oil Dividends
The current constitution provides a ratio for benefits from oil production. The bottom line is simple: in the past, Saddam Hussein robbed the country and used the money to buy weapons and to send Iraqi soldiers into bloody campaigns against Iran, Kuwait and the Kurds and Shiites. Future revenues will be used to help the marginal regions (mostly Shiites and Kurdish) to grow economically. But the Sunni areas will benefit as well. A federal Iraq is designed to have a national authority to administer the country-level development. The Sunnis, situated geographically in the center, are also in the center of Iraq’s educational, economic and social life. They will be part of the oil economic renaissance. Under a modern federal Iraq, a Sunni middle class has a greater chance of benefiting from “a national growth” than under a Saddam mono-party regime or a Taliban-like system.
Conclusion
Jihadi terrorism is most likely destined to strike again and continue to do so, but the defenses of Iraq and democracy are growing stronger. In this decades-long conflict, that has witnessed bloodshed and destruction on U.S. shores, the success of the referendum in Iraq is as valuable as a Normandy-like victory for U.S. and coalition forces.
The war is long from being won, but one of America’s most important allies has grown bolder and stronger. The United States sacrificed 2,000 of its best young soldiers to remove a dictator, fight al Qaida in Iraq and protect the rise of a civil society. In return, a new republic was formed, and millions of citizens have been able to take their destinies in their hands. In the middle of the War on Terror, October 15 was a great achievement of the United States, but above all an Iraqi victory. If we divide the number of US soldiers who died in the conflict till October 15, we’d realize that for each fallen hero, 4,500 Iraqi voters were given the right to vote against Terror. In the global conflict with Jihadism, U.S. efforts and sacrifices are triggering greater resources against the empire projected by Ayman Thawahiri and Usama Bin Laden.
The most difficult times may still be ahead in this conflict waged by the Jihadists, but somewhere in the Middle East, some people have spoken against democracy’s enemies: and that is one victory.
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