Despite Success of Iraq Vote, Anti-Occupation Insurgency Likely to Continue

Interview with Hussein Ibish, vice chairman of the Progressive Muslim Union, conducted by Scott Harris

The Jan. 30 Iraqi election, which produced a higher turnout among Shiite and Kurdish voters than expected, prompted President Bush and his supporters to declare the vote a triumph of democracy and a defeat for insurgents who had launched attacks to disrupt the ballot. Supporters of the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq were quick to declare the election a vindication of their war policy, although the democratization of Iraq was clearly not the original justification for the conflict. In a televised address to the nation shortly after the election, the president said, "The people of Iraq have spoken to the world, and the world is hearing the voice of freedom from the center of the Middle East." The 275-member transitional national assembly is to draft a constitution, with a referendum on that document to take place in October.

But because many in the Sunni minority of Iraq's population either boycotted the election -- or stayed away from the polls due to threats of violence -- there is concern that a new government that will be dominated by Shiite political parties could set off inter-religious conflicts or a civil war. There is also concern in the region and among policymakers in Washington that a new Shiite government could move toward establishing an Islamic fundamentalist theocracy allied with Iran.

Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Hussein Ibish, vice chairman of the Progressive Muslim Union, who assesses the Jan. 30 Iraqi election and what it may mean for the future of Iraq and the insurgency fighting to end the U.S. military occupation.

Visit the Progressive Muslim Union's website at www.pmuna.org

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