IRAQ Quote of the Day (from the NYTimes)

"Let me tell you something important. As long as my country is under occupation, I feel that my vote means nothing." ---WALID MUHAMMAD, the imam of a major Sunni mosque in Iraq.


It seems that most of the Sunni population of Iraq feels this way about not only the election, but about the presence of U.S. military personnel on Iraqi soil. This position either comes directly out of the al Qaeda/Osama bin Laden rhetoric regarding Muslim lands, or it comes from a reaction to the Shiite majority's position on the elections.

Grand Ayatollah Ali al Sistani, the leading Shiite religious leader in Iraq, has encouraged all Shiites in Iraq to vote and to participate in the new government process. His position is that a secular government with an undercurrent of religion is acceptable; whereas, the Sunni position (in particular bin Laden's position) is that the government must be completely based upon the Qu'ran--the new government must be a theocracy.

It is interesting that these positions contradict existing governments in the Muslim world. For example, in Turkey--a Sunni government--the leadership takes a largely secular position in its governance even though a large majority of the parliament (and the prime minister) consists of observant Muslims who feel strongly about the importance of Islamic law. However, in Iran, the government is a complete theocracy governed by a relatively small group of Shiite mullahs (with an apparent democratically elected legislative body).