NYC Letter: Lessons In Democracy

Lesson No.1: Vote

Iraq's leading Sunni Muslim clerics said Wednesday the country's landmark elections lacked legitimacy because large numbers of Sunnis did not participate in the balloting, which the religious leaders had asked them to boycott.

In its first statement since the balloting, the Association of Muslim Scholars said the vote lacked legitimacy because of low Sunni participation. The association months ago urged Sunnis to shun the polls because of the presence of U.S. and other foreign troops, and insurgents threatened to kill anyone who voted.

Meanwhile, Carlos Valenzuela, the chief U.N. election expert in Iraq, told the AP that turnout in Sunni Arab areas was higher than expected, with lines forming outside polling centers in insurgency strongholds like Fallujah and Mosul.

Lesson No.2: If You Don't Vote, Take Your Lumps