commentary by Michael L. Bromley
copyright 2005

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... of Politics

Mar 16/ 05: The good news just keeps on coming...

Iraq Legislators Vow to Uphold Democracy
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Two years after the fall of Saddam Hussein, Iraqi legislators were sworn in Wednesday as members of the 275-seat National Assembly, vowing to uphold freedom and democracy.

And so what if, as the AP gently reminds us,

But before taking their oath, they had to endure mortar barrages and wailing air raid sirens as insurgents made their presence felt.

And so what if they argued over which language to use, couldn't settle on any leadership, and generally squabbled over this, that & everything else. It's a legislature, and that's what they're supposed to do! And so what if they meet behind the Green Line, the U.S. safety-zone. They never would have met at all if it weren't for the U.S., and they might as well meet where they can. Whatever the details, it comes on the 17th anniversary of Saddam's WMD massacre of Kurds in Halabja. It's altogether sweeter for the coincidence:

"This day coincides with a painful memory that has many meanings. On this day in 1988, former regime planes bombed Halabja and martyred 5,000 people," said Fuad Masoum, a Kurdish delegate. "Today, on this occasion, we celebrate the inauguration of parliament after the fall of this regime."

And next up for good news is a dispatch from the upper tundra, by way of the U.S. Senate:

Senate Votes to Open Alaskan Oil Drilling
A closely divided Senate voted Wednesday to approve oil drilling in an Alaska wildlife refuge, a major victory for President Bush and a stinging defeat for environmentalists who have fought the idea for decades. By a 51-49 vote, the Senate put a refuge drilling provision in next year's budget, depriving opponents of the chance to use a filibuster to try to block it. Filibusters, which require 60 votes to overcome, have been used to defeat drilling proposals in the past.

(See my celebration in the Graphics of the Week section.)

While both events in Iraq and in Alaska are works in progress, each marks crucial advance for America and for the world. I won't equate environmentalism with terrorism, but neither will I apologize for mentioning them in the same sentence. Both are reactionary, and both stand against freedom and self-government.

Environmentalism has become a movement of regress. While it's gains cannot be denied, its excesses have become abuse, and this knee-jerk denial of breaking tundra gets today a deserved slap. I don't give a damn if all the oil in Alaska doesn't bring the price of crude down a penny, much less ten bucks. I'm just supremely glad, yes, smug and satisfied, to see the ransom hold broken, if for a moment.

Hope is so much stronger than fear. Thank you, Mr. President.
 

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