Submitted by DemocracyRules, May 22, 2007 04:19

I am very surprised that the NY Sun printed this piece. Publishing it does a disservice to your newspaper by abusing facts and polluting the main stream media with myriad falsehoods and biases. For example, "Baghdad's dysfunctional political order," is an opinion that is presented as fact. Iraq, a very new democracy, is struggling the way we all did in the beginning. Compared to the US or Canada, Iraq's progression to democracy is rocket-fast. Democracies struggle, and even the best ones sometimes seem to be on the verge of collapse. The US is right now enduring massive political upheaval and deadlocks over simple policy legislation. After more than 235 years of existence, the US government has yet to secure the nation's southern border. Democracy is difficult, get used to it.

‘"If any further deputies were to desert him, it is hard to see how Maliki could win a vote of no confidence," an Iraq expert at the University of Michigan, Juan R. Cole, said.' The implication is that a no-confidence motion would be disaster, but it certainly is not. Canada, Britain, many parliamentary democracies have no-confidence motions. We will probably face one in Canada this fall. Usually, these are brought by the opposition parties because they fundamentally object to the government. This is resolved by holding new elections, which in turn strengthens government. The new government, more representative of the people's will, is more likely to survive. In democracies, elections are a good thing, and they certainly help a young electorate practice their voting skills.

Vague quotations like ‘some American officials acknowledge' is such poor journalism, it should not be permitted in high school newspapers. Is there a point to this story, other than to reinforce a general sense of unease about Iraq? I would call it ‘content free' reporting, in the sense that statements are made as factual assertions, when it is obvious that almost everything written here is controversial opinion, or is open to alternative interpretations.

When Iraq succeeds as a democratic nation, will this journalist come forward and publish an article pointing out his egregious errors of interpretation and prognostication? I hope so.

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