News From Iraq? Surely Not!

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Iraq has dropped out of the news:

Today, however, we actually do have some news from the 51st state. The Washington Post reports that the major pro-Iran Shiite parties in Iraq have formed a political alliance that excludes Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki (also a Shiite). This is both good news and bad news, according to the experts the Post contacted. It’s bad news because it means that Maliki may be an underdog in the coming elections, making it more likely that a supporter of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s reprehensible regime in Iran might come to power in Baghdad. It’s good news because it means that Maliki may ally himself with Sunni and Kurd groups, enhancing Iraqi unity:

Iraqi army Maj. Gen. Rasheed Flahe Mohammed, commander of the Samarra Operations Center, said he was thrilled to see politicians willing to cross sectarian lines, as Maliki may end up doing. Mohammed said that although he is a Shiite, he would vote for a bloc that would put a Sunni in power if he determined that person was the most qualified leader.

“I’m optimistic about this—Sunnis are allying with Shiites,” he said as he watched the Shiite alliance’s announcement on television. “This is something good for Iraq.”

Does that seem right?

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THE FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.

At least we hope they will, because that’s our approach to raising the $350,000 in online donations we need right now—during our high-stakes December fundraising push.

It’s the most important month of the year for our fundraising, with upward of 15 percent of our annual online total coming in during the final week—and there’s a lot to say about why Mother Jones’ journalism, and thus hitting that big number, matters tremendously right now.

But you told us fundraising is annoying—with the gimmicks, overwrought tone, manipulative language, and sheer volume of urgent URGENT URGENT!!! content we’re all bombarded with. It sure can be.

So we’re going to try making this as un-annoying as possible. In “Let the Facts Speak for Themselves” we give it our best shot, answering three questions that most any fundraising should try to speak to: Why us, why now, why does it matter?

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