Bush admin catches heat for CIA plan to influence Iraq elections.

Apparently, a plan was put forth months ago to aid candidates in the Iraq election that are favored by the US government.

They say the plans were nixed but who knows for sure.

Time:

U.S. officials tell TIME that the Bush team ran into trouble with another plan involving those elections � a secret "finding" written several months ago proposing a covert CIA operation to aid candidates favored by Washington. A source says the idea was to help such candidates � whose opponents might be receiving covert backing from other countries, like Iran � but not necessarily to go so far as to rig the elections....

.... In the final analysis, we have adopted a policy that we will not try to influence the outcome of the upcoming Iraqi election by covertly helping individual candidates for office." A senior U.S. official hinted that, under pressure from the Hill, the Administration scaled back its original plans. "This was a tough call. We went back and forth on it in the U.S. government. We consulted the Hill on this question ... Our embassy in Baghdad will run a number of overt programs to support the democratic electoral process," as the U.S. does elsewhere in the world.

You know, the CIA has performed so many illegal activities over the years, it wouldn't surprise me if they were involved in this. The CIA is not to be trusted in anything they do.

Democracy style elections will never work in Iraq so soon, at least not until that country goes through a civil type war and some minorities are eliminated.

The Bush Admin was naive to think the Iraq war agenda would be achieved, naive not to take al-qaeda security warnings in 08/01 seriously, naive to establish a coalition without substance, naive to invade Iraq without UN support, naive to draft up ridiculus foreign policies, naive in neglecting enviromental issues, the list goes on! oh, and naive to think that the American people will accept the reinstatement of the Draft (if re-elected i'm sure thats tops on the "to do" list)

On top of that, i laugh at how American citizens are so quick to defend and prepared to vote Bush, completely neglecting their track record over the past 4 yrs.

Don't forget, the largest province of Iraq is not going to be allowed to vote for they are anti-invasion of their home land.

Originally posted by mrmulder
You know, the CIA has performed so many illegal activities over the years, it wouldn't surprise me if they were involved in this. The CIA is not to be trusted in anything they do.

Read the article again. The Bush administration is responsible for formulating that idea (and it was just an idea), not the CIA.

The CIA is tool of the excutive branch and is subject to oversight by Congress. Chalk this up to another dirty job that the Administration dumped on the Agency. Congress had the good sence to nix it. The CIA does not create foreign policy - it is only an extension of foreign policy.

I don't think that there has been anything covert about the plan to support a U.S.-backed candidate. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out what is going on when they are trying to force democratic elections three months from now in a country where many voters will be dienfranchised--coincidently, those voters are the same voters that don't support the "CIA man" (Allawi is CIA-trained) or rule by the "exiles"--the heavily-financed politicos that lived outside of Iraq and supported the U.S. invasion.

Would we call an election in the United States democratic if a majority of voters were disenfranchised? Would would place any credibility in the winner of such an election? (everyone in Florida, stop laughing!)

Seriously, the Shiite majority will be disenfranchised because they are located in the part of the country that can't be secured in time for the election, not to mention that Sistani, who initially supported early elections, is now considering a boycott because he feels that the process is underrepresenting Shiites and unfairly benefitting the "exiles." The Sunnis have already announced that they will boycott the vote because they feel that it is being rigged. So that will automatically put a political party favorable to the U.S. in power after the elections. Coincidence? I don't think so.

The current Iraqi PM alreadly has admitted links to the CIA, the State Department and MI6.

(You might have to register to view that link, but just search his name and CIA, you'll get loads.)

Actually is not surprised that the government in his haste to make Iraq democratic will try to do something about the elections.

The truth is �The Iraqi political parties have been more worried about increasing their own power among themselves than doing any outreach to the broader public," a senior U.S. diplomat said on condition of anonymity. "There's a vast public to be reached out to, and these politicians have not done that yet."

Most Iraqis don�t even know who their political leaders are.

Text �Advocates of Iraqi democracy say the challenge isn't to forge a link between a mistrustful population ravaged by war and a political process imposed directly and indirectly by a foreign occupation force.�

Right now even the public aqnowlege That these candidate does not represent the Iraqi people

Text"The people in the government don't represent the Iraqis, but a narrow band of political parties in Iraq. There are broad spectrums of the population missing from the political scene."

And them how can the US provide Iraq with elections that are democratic and fair when the people that are going to be in the ballot are US Hand pick.

Read more on the link about what is going on with these candidates in Iraq.


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