Election in Iraq: An offer you cannot refuse

why the iraqi election had nothing to do with democracy

firstly,
the elections can hardly be called legitimate:

1.many iraqis - especially in "sunni triangle" - didnt vote
some didnt want to vote in this kind of chaotic circumstances,
others didnt want to collaborate with the u.s. forces,
some simply couldnt make it. in "problematic" areas,
where most of population is sunni, only 40% of people went voting.
in bagubahu, north of baghdad, lives around 300.000 people - only 17.000 showed up,
on the election day.

2.many iraqis didnt know where to vote
simply, because the location 5776 voting places remained a secret,
until the day of elections - for security reasons ofcourse. how many really showed up, nobody knows.

3.iraqis didnt know who to vote
or, they didnt know who was really candidates to vote. many of them again,
remained a secret. they rather remained anonymous. there was no list on tv,
no pre-election campaigns. so, the iraqi people didnt really know,
who they are voting. they voted in fog. in a fog of war.
and to be even more lost in this war, they could choose from 83 diffrent political parties and coalitions!!!

4.iraqi couldnt come to vote
why? the u.s. forces have forbidden any cars on the streets. out of security
reasons ofcourse.

5.there were no parallel elections
you, know it was too dangerous to pull out those. "what parallel elections?
be happy to have elections at all!" why? because mister bush dont like these,
parallel elections, because they showed last year, that john kerry is the winner.

6.there were no international observers
or, yes they were, but they oberved from jordan.
yes, in iraq the u.s. forces couldnt "grant them the proper safety".
those are the first "democratic" elections in last twenty years,
that didnt have ANY international observers present.

7.media coverage? what media coverage!
media were present, but allowed in only 5 voting places.
there was no real independant view over the elections.
out of security reasons, ofcourse.

8.and ofcourse - they will have to wait 7-10 days for results
hey, its "this extreme conditions"!
the results were not known the next day, like it is supposed to be,
in democratic elections. and we can just wait for them "to count the votes". like we waited in the year 2000 for results of u.s. elections.
yes, mister bush really likes these "extreme conditions". in these kind of
circumstances it is very easy to take control over elections, to bring your own
people, your own "puppet leaders".


secondly,
we come to the question:
"why did bush so badly need these iraqi election?"

1.to show his power
to show america and the world, that iraq is under control.
that he is not "loosing grip" in this situation.
that iraq is HIS now. he wanted to glorify and fortify his "democracy".
and he did.

2.to create a situation, which will need constant u.s. presence in iraq
somebody will have to protect all this "democracy" and all this "freedom"!
and somebody will have to "take care of results" in next iraqi election.
these "successful elections" are not a sign, that u.s. force will leave iraq.
the opposite: that the u.s. force will STAY in iraq!

3.to prove that american democracy really works!
...and it works EVERYWHERE!
just like any other u.s product: nike, cocacola, mcdonalds.
these elections are then a real triumph of the american democracy!
"see, we have won again! woohoo!".
he didnt want to satisfy the iraqi people, but the american people.

4.to say to people of middle east
"see? these elections gave birth to a new democracy in middle east!"
one more reason, that the entire middle east is looking at this democracy thing, with even more fear then before!

5.to bring his own people to power
so that he can control the area, and have legitimacy too.
which means that the iraqi oil can now legaly and without any complications,
be transferred from iraqi oil companies to american oil companies.
dont forget that the iraqi fniancial minister abdel mahdi said, that the iraqi oil will get privatized! ofcourse he is one of the guys, tha bush goverment is
trying to install for the new goverment.
oil for democracy.

6.to show that he has nothing against muslim people
"see, all i wanted is to liberate them!"
so that nobody will get smart, when he goes for iranian oil supplies...



author:
marcel stefancic junior
taken and translated from journal mladina

As much as it is bogus for any american to say we are in Iraq to protect our freedom. I do think iraqs voted because they (should anyways) want to be free. Whats messed up is that wasn't the reason our president gave for war. Tried WMD, nowhere to be found, tried links to ben lodin, proven false, screw it lets just say we came to save the people!

If the people of Iraq couldn't vote and the election is just to put a puppet government in place, would you like to explain why it is that early indications point to Sistani's Shia List forming the next government in Iraq?