News Iraq Election results conspiracy theory

[tribdog]

Okay, I'm sitting here watching CNN and they have the big winners in the election being interviewed. They all speak English very well. My apartment manager is from the middle east and he can't speak English as well and he's been here for over a decade. I've never seen Bush being interviewed in Iraqi news without an interpretter. Is english spoken that much in Iraq? Are these Iraqis smarter than most?

 

[loseyourname]

You haven't posted a theory, you've posted a question. Anyway, I would guess that the people elected all have background in international relations, many of which are conducted in English. It is important for any representative of another country to speak this language because it is so prevalent. Bush, on the other hand, really had no reason to speak Arabic up until a couple of years ago. He does, on the other hand, speak Spanish, which is more relevant to his background as governor of Texas, the state with the second-largest Hispanic population in the US.

What exactly is your suspicion? That these men are not really Iraqis?

 

[tribdog]

Sorry, I'm used to posting in GD where people are relaxed and aren't so anal about things.

 

[dextercioby]

Well,guess what,Tribdog,this IS General Discussion forum...

Daniel.

 

[Moonbear]

It would make sense that the Iraqis running in that election would be better educated than someone managing an apartment complex. They probably even speak better English than apartment managers born and raised speaking English.

 

[russ_watters]

Once upon a time, French was the de facto international language of diplomacy. Today, English is. It is somewhat rare for a high-end politician in another country to not speak English.

 

[plover]

Many of the Iraqi politicians were exiles until the invasion. Some (e.g. Allawi, Chalabi) were also CIA and/or British Secret Service assets.

There are any number of conspiracy theories in Iraq about Americans rigging the elections—though this seems likely to have more to do with their experiences with Saddam's elections than anything tangible. At this point, there are also all the usual election frauds coming to light, ballot stuffing and whatnot, but so far it all seems attributable to local, er, enthusiasm for the democratic process.

What's really funny is how the U.S. media is trying to rehabilitate Chalabi's image, since he ran on the Shi'i party list that seems likely to take the majority, and even has a shot at prime minister. I suppose it's possible Sistani knows something that could keep Chalabi on a short leash.

My current guess is that, for the sake of any chance of Iraq achieving stability, the best choice for PM will be whoever is put forward by the Kurds. While the Shi'i parties will dominate the parliament, they will probably have to compromise with the Kurds in order to form a government. A Kurdish PM might be less dissatisfying to the Sunni population than a Shi'i with ties to Iran, and might also give the Kurds enough of a stake in the government not to drift toward separatism. But what do I know?

 

[SOS2008]

There are any number of conspiracy theories in Iraq about Americans rigging the elections—though this seems likely to have more to do with their experiences with Saddam's elections than anything tangible.

For a minute there I thought you were going to say suspicions were due to experiences here in the U.S. Seriously, I agree with your evaluation.

In regard to English as an international language, and not that it is a superior language, but that it enables people from all over the world to participate in this forum. Getting back to the apartment manager, it is too bad a common language (national language of English) isn't viewed the same way. More discussion about this under the heading about immigration...