Lets assume the constitution has passed. (if it hadn't we would know by now, trust me- the democratic process is not so democratic and the vote counts never take more than 2 days to know the turnout).

As I said before though, the fact that it passed does not mean that those who voted Yes would keep this as their permanent constitution. Rather it means they still have hope and will not give up- will not leave things how they are now, because in the future when times are safer, then they can challenge the laws. Right now it would just get them shot.

Well, Iraq's majority Sunni provinces, that is those with Sunni majorities- have a big opportunity.

They need to take to the street, each person, each household- with to declare their intention to govern and care for themselves now and in the future.

Massive actions.

Start small, get together a group of men, women, children and grandparents. Take to the street and start cleaning up the mess. Find the local market or hospital or doctors surgery that has been damaged or looted, and fix it.

Re-start your lives, and do it in the street. Do it in the face of those who would kill you. Make them the ones who are scared.

Get together and grow your different foods, exchange them across the road to your neighbours so you are not all missing out on quality food. Get together and build the facilities you require, with or without the govenments help and permission.

Use your mosques to plan activities for positive actions towards reconstruction. Start with the little things, maybe it is fixing wholes in water pipelines. Maybe it is getting all the towns electricians to go around voluntarily fixing power-lines. Maybe it is baking food for the poverty striken, or re-building small houses that have been destroyed over the years.

Or maybe you just need to sweep your street, or clean up the local school and patch up the holes in roofs, repaint the insides and put in some new swing sets or white-boards and computers for the children.

Then get the community volunteers to protect these places of importance.

Look after the children, rebuild their schools, keep them clean and keep them safe! There must be many women in Mosul who know how to use a gun, but are still un able to work or to leave their homes and would rather protect their children.

Set up your own womans armed security group to defend the schools. Everyone knows that nothing is more dangerous than being between a mother and her child.


---- Not only do these communities have an opportunity to rebuild and recreate their personalities credibly, they have also cast off the "Baath" label.

The Sunni are no longer the Baath even in the eyes of the world media! (they never really were, its just because the Tikriti were mostly sunni.. )

which means they can now be accepted by the rest of the world as a legitimate people. They are now the minority group being picked on that everyone wants to save. It is no longer "PUNISH THE BAATHSTED'S" - heh, a silly pun :) now its "save the sunni!"

the sunni have been given a blessed period of time to get themselves geared up to win the next election despite them being a minority group. Let's face it, in Iraq- any group that is not committed to Violent Resistance, or Islamic Revolution, or supporting the US troops, and who is not a Kurd- can win the next election.

Not many really want to vote for Iran, err I mean SCIRI or Da'wa.

And the Shia certainly aren't going to vote an ex-Baath Party leader, or a Kurdish Independance activist, or a Green-Zone backed leader in, and that only really would leave them with Al-Sadr's group.

And we all know that there are plenty who support him.

The problem is, that those who don't support him, or who have had to suffer the lovely priveledge of meeting one of his thugs, can only vote for SCIRI & Da'wa.

So what we need, is a Sunni who is opposed to Al-Sadr's henchmen, but willing to deal with him , willing to talk to SCIRI & Da'wa, against the formation of an "Islamic Theocracy", but Pro-Islamic religion, Pro Kurdish Autonomy, with limited consessions to them, (not including governance over Nineveh or Kirkuk, who should decide via participation how their provinces should be governed.) and who demands the US provide a clear-cut list of "STEPS REQUIRED TO BE FINISHED BEFORE PULLOUT" that can be debated over and moved towards, to allow the Iraqi's to gain control over when foreign forces will leave their country- without needing to go up in arms.

Just come up with a party like that, and a clever, attractive and respectable leader- and you will win more power in this election than any other individual party.

More to be added later, so don't forget to come back for updates

(currently reading more iraqi blogs on said referendum & the future)




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