Iraqis shun religious parties

I love how everyone forgets that they HAD a secular government before we illegally invaded them.

Religion is the problem. It has always been the place where cowards and bullies take refuge. Christians are no better. Religion's m.o. has always been to scapegoat one group - progressive women, progressive blacks, non-believers, etc. Religion is the place where ignorance and superstition is given comfort and nurture.

If you are religious, you are part of the problem. There is blood on your hands. I encourage all good people of sound mind and strong character to stand up and say "no" to religion. Let us end the ignorance and madness once and for all.

Be brave, be strong, be an atheist!

Fuck religion.

XVX for life, R.A.S.H. 'til death.

What we do know is that there are 3 different Islamic sects sharing the country. If any one of the sects is in power, the others will suffer. It seems that the only way for their government to actually work for every person is for it to go non-sectarian. Either that or split the country into 3 different countries, but then there is the question of who gets what resources. These people are willing to die and kill eachother for their beliefs. They will have to find common ground - including the rule of law - to find a place in the modern civilized world.

I love how anytime something like this happens everyone immediately scream fraudulent election. Maybe instead you could be hopeful that the Iraqi people have decided to try another way. Of course it could be you are correct and this election was rigged, but I would like to think otherwise.

oil

The Iraqi people are starting to see that the only thing keeping freedom from them is the tyrannical Islamic religion. Everybody blames Bush and the American government, but we would of been out of Iraq years ago if the Muslims didn't start blowing shit up in the name of Mohammad.

janforgore makes some excellent points as does hiway, but another way to consider this is by comparing Iran as it is today with Iran as it was under the corrupt Shah - a puppet of western powers. Was it perfect? No, not by any means. Were women and children treated better? Could they attend secular schools? Vote? Walk alone on the street? Wear what they chose? Yes, they could.
If one compares Iran under a western puppet government to Iran under a fundamentalist Islamic government and then asks if Iraq might be better off under current circumstances the answer may not be as clear as we'd like.
I find America's arrogance as 'nation builders' to be distasteful, but I wonder if the Iraqi people look toward Iran and breathe a sigh of relief? Just a thought...

Thank you JanforGore... I couldn't have put it better.

I am so tired of America meddling into foreign governments- if we want to be an example to the world, then we had better clean up our messes at home before implying we have anything worthy to offer the rest of the globe in the way of governmental methodology.

So you actually think their elections are legitimate? Ours aren't even legitimate. How many candidates were murdered before the election? I read of two, and believe one was a Shiite and one was a Baathist. And didn't they have a secular government with Hussein before they were shock and awed by us? How did that turn out? What does it matter if it is religious or not if the leaders are dictatorial and corrupt?

maybe some good can come out of iraq. this seems to be one small step in the right direction

Hopefully thats a big step forward. Who knows maybe the Iraqi people are a lot less religiously motivated than the American media would have you believe?

I don't think a secular government would be successful primarily due to the fact that Islam plays a major role in so many Iraqi lives.

A secular government is the only way to make an area as volatile as this peaceful and functional.