Why the Heck is it Taking So Long?

Hatfields & McCoys Without Weapons

A democracy in Iraq is nothing less than a miracle.  Take an area roughly the size of California, half of which is desert wilderness.  In that area there are at least two independent nations, a score of languages, a half dozen conflicting religions and 25 million people who have been taught to remember every slight, every slur, every bit of discourtesy or dishonor that has been done to the family, tribe, caliphate, sect or race since before there was a Great Spice Road five thousand years ago.  You are surrounded by neighbors, often hostile, with many of their own problems, who delight in meddling in your internal affairs.  Of course all these Hatfields, McCoys, Sheepmen, Cowmen, Indians and Cavalry, Islamists, Arabs and others are sitting on a whole sea of oil, enough to send billions of barrels of it throughout the world for generations and never run dry.  Natural gas, same story.

Imagine The Lord of the Flies with unlimited wealth.

Now layer on the rest of the world – the UN, the IMF, the WTO, the US with all the sanctions and executive orders and policies and pressures.  Now bring in the big money business interests from all over Asia, Europe, Russia and don’t forget the neighbors. 

UN Drops Sanctions - Nothing Breaks

And yet…the miracle is happening.  It has taken eight years and over 4,000 American lives.  It may be fragile.  It may be fraught with intrigue… a switch of minister here, a Kurdish objection there, budget read or unread?  Government formed, not formed?  Oops, here comes the Emir of Kuwait meeting with Maliki behind closed doors – sworn enemies having a cordial sit-down.  But taken altogether, we are witnessing an inclusionary, representative government that is taking care of business.  And the world is welcoming them.  The UN in its dropping of sanctions, the nosy neighbors coming to visit, joining the Arab League, the Gulf Cooperative Council, the WTO are just the few pressure points we know about.

Those of us interested only in the revaluation of the currency are focused on the when and how much.  But we are learning that we must be patient.  We believed the currency would RV in November – Thanksgiving Dinar; then it was end of December – Christmas Dinar.  Will it happen by Valentine’s Day?  Easter Dinar?  Mother’s Day?  Some people have been waiting for more than five years.

Maybe it will happen soon and maybe later.  The bigger story, though, is this democracy Iraq has wrought.  IF they can pull it off, THAT will pay dividends for generations to come.