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BAGHDAD: Out in Sadr City, a sprawling working-class district on the north edge of Baghdad, the United States is conducting an experiment unlike any other since the aftermath of World War Two: building a democracy abroad from the ground up, by force of occupation.
The challenges are daunting.
Until the US invasion that toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in April, Sadr City was called Saddam City.
Its population of nearly two million is a microcosm of Iraq, an uneasy mix of Arabs and Kurds, Sunni and Shias. And after centuries of rule by the Ottomans, decades by the British and then the Baath Party and Saddam, Iraq knows little about democracy as the West would have it.
It is here and places like it across Baghdad that P.J. Dermer is trying to create the Baghdad city council.
A former lieutenant colonel in the US Army who has spent years in the Middle East, Dermer is criss-crossing the capital to help Iraqis form neighbourhood councils in order to choose representatives at the district level. From there they will select representatives for the 35-member Baghdad city council. Perhaps the start of democracy.
“This is what the big boss wants,” Dermer said, the big boss being George W. Bush.
But is the United States up to the job?
“I am a bit nervous,” Dermer said. “I understand the task at hand. It’s not just about Iraq, it’s about the Middle East, the whole region. The Iranian press has been here reporting on the process. I wonder if the students who are demonstrating for democracy there have seen this.”
Much has been made of how long it might take for Iraq to hold national elections. But one little-known aspect of post-war Iraq is that informal elections have been taking place throughout Baghdad.
Neighbourhood committees organized by the Americans have selected their representatives, who now will stand for election at the district level. In Sadr City, 41 representatives chosen at the district level will select seven people among themselves to go to the Baghdad city council.
QUARREL A MINUTE: Barely one minute has passed since the sheikh said opening prayers at the Sadr City meeting to discuss the elections and already a quarrel has started.
The sheikh tells the meeting that elections have been postponed, saying only there is “not enough time for the process.” What he does not say is that the American needs more time to run background checks on the 41 people assembled to make sure none have ties to the former regime.
A tall man near the front row leaps to his feet.
“This is democracy! I must give my opinion! No one person is going to decide. No one person is going to shut us up,” he shouts.
From there the meeting erupts into chaos. The eruptions are repeated later when the delegates pick apart the US requirement that Sadr City must select at least one woman and at least two Kurds among its seven representatives.
Some Iraqis think they are ready for democracy without quotas for minorities. The tall man in the front is heard again.
“In the current situation after the invasion, the enemies of the Iraqis want to divide us between Arabs and non-Arabs. If that happens Iraq will be a sea of blood. Iraq is one! Iraq is one!” The hall breaks into applause.
THE CHAOS OF DEMOCRACY: Dermer has seen it before. Days earlier at Baghdad University, a group of Islamic militant students attempted to hijack the meeting, issuing a list of demands including one that US soldiers stay off campus. Ten minutes of shouting from all sides ensued.
Both in Sadr City and at the university, Dermer stepped back, let the Iraqis express their views, then took control when he thought the moment was right.
“OK, here’s how democracy works,” he told the students. Attention suddenly focused on the lone American authority in the room.
“Everybody will get a chance to speak. It’s not one voice over others. It’s about every voice being heard. Look me in the eyes and tell me we can do this peacefully. In democracy, its about choice. Do you want to go forward?”
There is quiet, nodding approval.
“We cannot rule with emotion,” Dermer went on. “Ten minutes ago was purely emotional. You must let the other side speak. Then, you shake hands and go away.”
Afterward, feelings were mixed about what had just occurred.
Riyadh Aziz Hadi, dean of the college of political science, was impressed.
“This is the first time we can discuss issues freely. This is the first time this has happened in such a democratic way,” he said.
But student Likaa Abbas, a woman who provoked applause with penetrating questions about the US occupation, was less credulous.
“What about their promises,” she said later of the Americans. “They said there would be a national government and we still have an international government. We want to rebuild our country and build a democracy. Right now we cannot achieve these aims because we are under occupation.
“They must fulfil at least one of their promises.”—Reuters
