The sunny mood of many English-language Iraqi blogs makes this journalist a little cynical. Is it possible that the English speaking media are getting a skewed impression of Iraqis' views from them? That's an article for an Arabic speaker to write, perhaps.
On a related note, Mother Jones' David Enders has written a provocative column suggesting that, actually, most Iraqis rarely leave "their neighbourhoods, social circles, and, these days, their houses" and don't have a clue about what the rest of society is thinking. He's also sceptical about the interim government's claims that Islamic law will not be incorporated into the new constitution: "Every time I talk to a liberal politician or citizen who assures me that elements of sharia couldn't possibly be written into the new constitution, I want to ask them: 'When was the last time you went to prayers in Sadr City? Have you been down to Najaf or Basra lately?'"
Equally worried about what kind of constitution the newly elected assembly will produce is Baghdad Burning, a blog written by a secular-minded young Iraqi woman, who describes a visit to the ministry of higher education. She was wearing trousers, a sweater and a knee-length black coat.
"'Please dress appropriately next time you come here,' the man said to me … My eyes were stinging. No one could talk that way before the war and if they did, you didn't have to listen. You could answer back. Now, you only answer back and make it an issue if you have some sort of death wish or just really, really like trouble."
She also worries that a Shia/Kurdish coalition might not prove a very desirable compromise:
"Politicians are talking about a balance that might arise from a Shia, Kurdish alliance and it makes a lot of sense in theory. In theory, the Kurdish leaders are Sunni and secular and the Shia leaders are, well, they're not exactly secular. If they get along, things should work out evenly. That looks good on blogs and on paper. Reality is quite different. Reality is that the Kurdish leaders are more concerned about their own autonomy and as long as the Kurdish north remains secular, the rest of Iraq can go up in flames."
Nonetheless, plenty of Iraqi blogs are celebrating the results. The ever-optimistic Chrenkoff analyses the results and notes how expatriate Iraqis voted. Omar at Iraq The Model didn't win the seat he wanted, but he knows why and he's happy that the elections took place: "Little parties like ours couldn't compete with the larger ones that own radio and TV networks and had their banners filling the streets ... All I had was $3,000 to spend on advertising and publicity and managing the party's affairs."
