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Is Iraq on the road to democracy?

Iraq may have had an election recently - now the subject of challenge - and now the last days have seen extensive suicide and other bombings with considerable loss of life and injuries. So, is democracy on the way for the war-torn Iraq?

It is a question posed in this article in The Independent in a Q & A format with Patrick Cockburn, veteran journalist, who has covered the Middle East for years now.

An example of the Q & A:

"Why are we asking this [that is, is Iraq on the road to democracy?] now?

Iraqis went to the polls on 7 March to choose a 325-member parliament to replace the one elected in 2005. The results have only recently been announced and are being challenged by the Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. It is expected to take four or five months to produce a new government and violence has not diminished. Bombings in Baghdad on Sunday killed 41 people and wounded a further 437."

Continue reading here.

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