First of all, I understand that Iraq is at the beginning of the democracy path, as defined by the norms and practices of western democracy. Actually, the title of this article came from what I saw of the Iraqi political, legal and civil scene in terms of the pending U.S.-Iraqi pact at the Iraqi constitutional institutions.

This scene in Iraq was really touching in terms of its vibrancy, and most importantly, its diversity. This Iraqi scene is unique in the Arab world, with an exception for Lebanon as a special case. It is really a very rare situation in the Arab world that no one can predict if a treaty or a political or sovereign decision would be adopted or not by an Arab country. In fact, in Arab countries, every thing is previously settled according to the ruling regime or dictator’s will. But this time, Iraq has made an exception or, as I hope, a precedent.

Furthermore, this Arab unique democratic state in Iraq continued even after the Iraqi government’s approval of the pact with the United States after the latter’s approval of the changes of the pact proposed by the Iraqi government. Then, the uniqueness of this Iraqi situation in the Arab world is getting more significant as the government of Iraq cannot conclude this question waiting for the decisive act by the elected representatives of the Iraqi people in the Iraqi parliament.

Although Iraq has yet to develop its democratic system and experience, it has shown that it has the basic foundation of democracy, which is diversity. This Iraqi diversity was more than obvious in the Iraqi parliament. Many opinions have been shown by the Iraqi MPs divided between who is in favor of the treaty, and against, and who want some amendments to vote for it in a real democratic scene. However, some demagogic non-democratic MPs ― I mean violent Sadrists representing Iran’s interests ― should not be upsetting, as they are just few, and growing democracy is capable of isolating non-democratic elements over time.

Finally, President Bush should be proud of this Iraqi scene that in spite of all challenges, difficulties and mistakes in Iraq, he fulfilled the basic promise of the Operation Iraqi Freedom; and now it is up to Iraqis to independently determine their future.