Democracy in Iraq

On March 20, 2003 America invaded Iraq stating to objectives. The first goal we wanted to accomplish was to make sure there were no WMD's and to shut down any programs to create WMD's. The second objective was to take Saddam Hussein, Iraq's dictator, out of power. Saddam Hussein had been the leader over Iraq from 1979-2003 and ruled with fear and power and attacked a number of surrounding areas such as in the Gulf War.

The problem that arises when trying to take a leader out of power is that someone needs to or is going to move in to that open support of power. We could have left Iraq right when we took Saddam out of power but someone else would have moved into that spot, most likely would be the most aggressive person. If we left this vacuum open we might be responsible for someone even worse than Saddam being in charge. The best solution seen would be to remain in Iraq and change their government into a democracy. If Iraq could be turned into a democracy the people would be more in control rather than someone controlling them by force.

This sounds like a good idea but good doesn't mean easy, we have seen it takes more than just elections to start a government. Even if we don't leave that doesn't mean that no one is going to try to move in to power. A second problem is there are a number of people that wish to attack Americans and anyone not against us even if they are not trying to take control. Many attacks on troops and anyone trying to help turn Iraq into a democracy make it very hard to accomplish anything. There is also the fact that many people have never lived with some control over their government, for their entire lives the government had control of them, this fact alone has many people resist the change.

A large reason why it is so hard to change Iraq government is because to create a democracy requires some amount of the people wanting to work together. In Iraq there are a number of religions and beliefs and most do not take kindly to the idea of working together or settling with something they are against. Before they might have been forced but now they will not sit by peacefully and watch another side gain power. They many random attacks and extremists keep Iraq disorganized and against each other so that no one government can be formed with most of the people agreeing to follow it.

As of recent American troops have gained more control and there are slightly smaller amounts of groups attacking each other. There are still extremists and the road toward turning Iraq into a democracy will be hard but we have seen progress and we must keep faith we will see it to the end. There are many people that say we should quit but then that means many of the sacrifices we have made will have been for nothing, as soon as we leave it will create a vacuum that will create chaos until one man can grasp enough power even if very few people support him. Even though it is a rough journey democracy is the best leadership they could have and as long as we can we should continue helping them try to achieve it.

American democracy

Today, America functions as a democracy, this means the people choose what laws they want and who they want in power by voting and going by majority rule. This however is not exactly how out government is run, if the people were to vote on everything we would be voting on a number of things almost every day. That would be known as a pure democracy, in the United States we are run under a representative democracy.

Representative democracy means that the people in an area elect men to vote on their behalf. The man the has the same views of most of the people in the area is elected to represent them. This way people only need to vote on the men they choose and more important laws and elections.

"A democracy is a government in the hands of men of low birth, no property, and vulgar employments. - Aristotle.(Sharansky, Natan )" When the United States was being founded the founding fathers drew up the constitution. In this the designed the government to be split into branches that were supposed to be equal in power. In these branches there are equal voting rights for all men through the men chosen to represent them. This was one of the main reasons our government was formed into how it is today.

In the end the main reason we became a representative democracy is because our nation was founded for the people. When we were posed with the choice of the two different types pure or direct democracy didn't seem like it would work, so they were left with the more logical choice. In this after the people choose their representatives they no longer hold any power over general laws or decisions.

I believe it was a wiser choice for the reason of many people will not look into the details on a law and then base their entire opinion on one commercial they see. "If liberty and equality, as is thought by some, are chiefly to be found in democracy, they will be best attained when all persons alike share in the government to the utmost. -Aristotle.(Byrstyn, Joan )" In taking the idea that we would be founded on a government for the people it seems its as simple as we tried to find the most logical solution.

Sharansky, Natan "The Case for Democracy" First Serial, British Commonwealth 2007

Byrstyn, Joan "A Challenge to American Democracy" COPYRIGHT Libra Publishers, Inc. 2002