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Did the Iraqi Elections Happen?

9:54 AM, Feb 9, 2009 • By MATTHEW CONTINETTI
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Yesterday on Meet the Press, David Gregory interviewed Thomas Ricks, whose new book The Gamble comes out this week. The interview was informative. I recommend watching it or reading the transcript.

But the interview was also amazingly dour and pessimistic. Last week Iraq held provincial elections that were notable for the lack of violence, the reintroduction of Sunnis into political life, and the flowering of competitive parties. Also important: the elections brought victory to nationalist and secular parties at the expense of the Sadrists and the Iran-friendly SCIRI party. These elections were a uniform success. You can read Reuel Marc Gerecht's take on them here.

Did Gregory ask Ricks about the provincial elections? No. Did Ricks talk about them? Nope. He mentioned elections only once, in this sentence:

This, this year we're in now, '09, is going to be, I think, a, a surprisingly tough year. You've got a series of elections in Iraq. Meanwhile, you've got American troops declining. General Odierno says in the book that the really dangerous withdrawals come at the end of this year. We're doing the easy troop withdrawals now, but down the road you start taking them out of areas that aren't so secure, that aren't so safe, that you're, that you're worried about. So they're going to be holding national elections in Iraq just when we have fewer troops there.

More by Matthew Continetti

There are still a lot of challenges ahead in Iraq. But you'd think that one of our foremost experts on military affairs, and the host of the premier Sunday public affairs show, would be willing to acknowledge our recent successes.