The opposition people were not so far off base when they said that the Iraqis hated the Americans and wanted them to leave. No one likes an imperial conqueror, and the Iraqis are no different on that one. They have seen that Washington lied to them, about so much, treated them like they treated the native Americans here at home, and that they just do not give a fuck about them at all, and consider them nothing but a nuisance. That was why so many opposition leaders were certain that the referendum would fail miserably unless America cheated like all hell. They felt that there was just no way that the oppressed Iraqis would accept America, and that meant that the war was on, and they liked that a whole lot. America is not the only ones that are profiting from war in Iraq, there are many Islamic organizations and the like that are making themselves lots of money too. Many of them want to fight America just as much as America wants to fight them, because they stand to make money just like Washington's cronies do. So, they take a virulent anti-American stance on everything, and try to get everyone stirred up against them. They wanted Washington to cheat so very badly here so that they would have had great propaganda to use against them and to recruit their own fighters. They really felt that they had the Iraqi people in their hand firmly and could count on them to vote no and make America have to cook the books. They felt that the hatred of the new Constitution would be so deeply rooted that there would be no chance of things going otherwise, so they made baseless accusations of fraud and such, figuring that the real thing would come along soon enough, and it never did. No matter how much they hoped for it and even prayed to merciful Allah for it, that never happened. The Iraqis let them down big time and did what they never thought would happen. The people went and voted "yes" for the Constitution even though America has lied to them and decimated their country And turned them into a beggar state and all that. The fact that the Constitution favors American interests above all else was ignored, and it seemed that the Iraqis were content top vote "yes" on the thing. It is not even certain that Washington thought that they'd Get the acceptance that they got here, especially not by the margin that they have gotten it. I am sure that there were plans afoot to cook the books and commit fraud if the thing went against America, because Washington just has too much at stake here to tear it all up and start over again, which is what would have had to happen if the referendum was defeated. So, by no means was Washington innocent here, they had every intention of doing what the opposition said that they were going to do, they just never had to, and the question is why. It makes as little sense to America as it does to the opposition that the "yes" Vote was so great, and even though Washington does not really care why it happened, just that it happened, they are wondering why just as much as anyone.
The egos of Washington would tell them that the reason everything went so smoothly was because the Iraqis have really bought into things and are now going along with the program like America has always wanted. They have seen the errors of their ways and are now ready to accept what Washington wants and all that, but that is a flat out fairy tale, and America knows that. There is just no way that they can have anything except hate and contempt against America, and yesterday, the 2000th casualty told Washington that they are not exactly popular there at all. The mere fact that there have been so many American killed there means that a whole lot of people hate them and want them to get out, and it is rather incongruous to think that amidst that, a referendum would be passed so overwhelmingly without fraud and the like having to be resorted to. Some of it might be attributed to the overwhelming show of force that America has used in Iraq, the "shock and awe" Shit that Washington brags about. Perhaps the Iraqi people have just been cowed into submission by seeing that America has innumerable force at their bequest, and that there is no way to withstand that. However, that might have worked with old men and kids, but that's about it, because the fact that people have been gunning at America long enough to kill 2000 of them shows that they do not regard America as invincible by any means. In fact, they have seen America's Weaknesses like none others have in the past and have exploited them in ways that have not been seen since the days of Vietnam. They know that America is not anywhere near as big and bad as it says that it is, and have been showing the world that for three years now. I am also sure that they view the Constitution as a fucking joke because it is just like every imperial invader's Constitution has ever been, it favors one particular group a lot over others so that frictions and tensions between groups can be heightened, so that makes it easier to divide and conquer, at least in theory it does. The America Constitution is just like that, it favors the Sunni Muslims over the Shi'ites by a wide margin and ensures that there will be many left out on the cold under it just like always. The same people left out in that cold under the American plan are generally the same ones that were left out in it before under Saddam and the like, and there would be no reason for them to even bother to go out to any polls and vote on a referendum that once again screws them out of everything meaningful, yet they went in great numbers and accepted that very same document that has nothing in it for them. It just could not be sheer American force at work here, the people that have no stake in anything really do not care much as to whether they Live or die, and would not be afraid of America killing them, as that would just get them out of the shitty situation they are in here on earth early and send them to that Muslim Paradise that has the virgin chicks and all that. Even just the idea of going to a place like that is way better than living under the unfair Constitutions that they have to, so even the threat of death would not be enough to get these folks out to the polls and voting "yes" in the numbers that they did. This being a triumph of the American way is not an explanation either, as most Iraqis outright reject the American way of almost everything, as they regard that as the way of the invader and the enemy. No one in Iraq has been swayed by what he has seen since America came there and suddenly realized the inferiority of his society and religion and ways and come to accept America and its ways as the savior of all and something to wholeheartedly embrace. So then, why did the Iraqis accept what America gave them when it obviously just another bum deal that does zero for them?
The answer to that lies in that hatred that Iraqis have for America. They do indeed despise America and want them the hell out of their land. The Americans are About as welcome in Iraq as a swarm of locusts would be and that shall not change. However, the Iraqi people see that the way of ridding themselves of the American troops is not to drive cement trucks (lorries) into hotels and create spectacular explosions that really kill no one important, just make a lot of noise and look cool on TV. They know that the insurgency will never drive America out of Iraq, but that it will make them more and more determined to stay there until they crush the thing. They will never be able to totally do that however, and the insurgency will drag on and on and on like it has since 2003. That means a constant state of war in Iraq and constant peril for its inhabitants. So many families have lost loved ones due to the war and are always afraid that they might be next in line and want the shit to stop as much as it is ever going to stop. They know that America will never truly leave Iraq, that they will stay there to usurp the money that they can get, but at least the troops can be sent away and with them, all the killing and the like. Everyone knows that America has its eyes on another prize in Iran and is impatient as hell to get started there, as they have been delayed already. The Iraqi people know that Washington wants to take the troops that it has in Iraq out of there and send therm over Iran way to start taking over there. They want them to go there as much as Washington does, and they know that the only way to make that happen is to accept the deal that America makes for them, No matter how bad it is. Even a shitty deal is better than trigger-happy, shell-shocked, paranoid American soldiers everywhere like you have now, as they just bring misery and death. So, if the Iraqis pretend like they accept the Constitution, that means that America will take its soldiers and send them into the streets of Tehran, and the Iranians can then worry about them. The Iraqis do not particularly like the Iranians anyway, and would not mind sending them their troubles like that. They have seen that the only way of stopping America from taking over the Middle East totally would be to drop nuclear bombs all over it and turn it into a valueless wasteland, but that would also entail bringing themselves into extinction, so they have to find another way to deal with it, and working from the inside is the best way to them. They know that the Iranians will eventually find the same thing out when America comes there, and the Syrians as well, and so forth and so on. Pretending to accept the puppet Constitutions and governments that America sets up are the first step of that process, and that's Why the "yes" vote has been so big. The rabble rousers of the opposition have not realized that fact yet, and seen that was why their people looked as if they turned on them. The reality was that The people had figured out a far better and safer way to do things than the opposition had an exercised that. They showed their leaders that they had things figured out better than the leaders did, and that the leaders should listen to their ways from now on, instead of the other way around all the time. The Iraqis are so fucking sick of the Americans that they are telling them exactly what they want to hear so that they will go the fuck away with their army and society can return to some semblance of normality. Who knows, maybe the American Constitution won't be so bad after all once it's in place, and the Iraqis are willing to take that chance just to get the warfare to stop. Many of them probably have much different ideas of how life would be under that Constitution then Washington does, but if they are killed in another American military assault, they will never be able to implement those ideas anyway. So really, that referendum introduced Iraqis to something that Americans have been dealing with for years, an election where there is no real good option available, but just the lesser of two or more evils, and you have to pick that lesser evil. For Iraqis, that lesser evil is accepting the American made Constitution, and that's what they did two weeks ago. It is no triumph for America, despite what Washington says, it is no triumph for anyone. It is just a bunch of war weary people trying to do what they can in order to end that war. That's the best that America could come up with after 2,000 lives lost and three years, and that's pretty sad shit. No one really accepted anything, nor will they ever, and that's fine with Washington, but is it so fine with the Iraqi people that voted two weeks ago? The referendum once again showed how little they actually matter in the grand scheme of things, and it seems that they have gotten that message loud and clear now and are acting accordingly,and if that is democracy and freedom at work, it sure shows them in a very, very bad light indeed.