Ho explica molt bé al "The New York Post", Ralph Peters:
Osama and Zarqawi share an understanding of their weakness. Given a choice, few men and women prefer to be oppressed. Elections are the best weapon humanity has developed against the age-old hierarchies that concentrate power and wealth in the hands of a few, letting grim old men exterminate simple joys.Les eleccions s'han de fer, fins i tot si són caòtiques o imperfectes. No oblidem que són les primeres, no les últimes.
The Islamic-extremist vision of a world governed by the harshest interpretation of their faith could not survive where people pick their own leaders. The terrorists know it. And they fear it. Like other self-appointed elites, they pretend to speak for the average man while despising him as unworthy of having a voice in his own affairs. (A reality-TV show about Islamic terrorism might be called "Intellectuals Gone Wild.")
Osama possesses no religious authority to condemn Iraqis for voting. Pretending to revere Islamic tradition, he and his fellow terrorists make up the rules as they go. The slaughter of the innocents, videotaped executions, kidnappings and the assassinations of political candidates have no basis in the Koran. Terrorist Islam is a primitive blood-cult.
That cult could not survive in a Middle East where elections became the norm.
The upcoming vote in Iraq will be messy, at best. Sunni Arabs may stay home, intimidated by terror and poisoned by demagoguery. But that would no more invalidate the election results than a boycott by college professors would negate the legitimacy of a U.S. election. In a democracy, those who lack the courage or will to vote must bow to the ballots of those who take a stand.
The choices Iraqis will make next month may appear as much a rebuke to America as to the terrorists. That, too, is democracy. Instead of worrying about the short-term, we should focus on the long term: Democracy is addictive. As we just saw in Ukraine, democracy allows voters to learn from past mistakes. Any vote is an ultimate win for America.
The elections will be the most important test yet for the people of Iraq — Arabs, Kurds, Turcomans and others. We can't predict the outcome of the elections because the Iraqis themselves don't know what's going to happen.
Will they turn out in masses, defying the prophets of doom as the Afghans did? Will they choose religious leaders over secular technocrats? Will elections be used to settle old scores or to make a new start?
How many Sunni Arabs will defy the terrorists and vote? How many Iraqis will die as they stand in line at the polling stations? Will other Arab governments — terrified of democracy themselves — condemn the results no matter how much courage Iraqis demonstrate? Will a successful election intensify the cruelty of the terrorists?
The only thing of which we may be certain is that our deadliest enemies are doing all they can to stop Iraq's elections. It's the one goal on which the various terrorist factions and insurgent groups agree. If we needed any further proof that our struggle against terror is about human freedom and the dignity of the common man and woman, our enemies are laying it in front of us.
