Democracy without elections for Iraq
The Iraqis have strayed from the script again. This time a prominent Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, has been demanding direct elections of the new Iraqi provisional government.
It wasn’t so long ago that Bush, in a display of hypocrisy that should shock me but doesn’t, demanded free elections in Cuba. Bush has called for early elections in Venezuela, elections in occupied Palestine, and elections in Northern Ireland, so why aren’t elections good for democracy in Iraq? The Bush administration claims there are insurmountable technical problems. They also worry about “manipulation” of the election, which I suppose is a code phrase for the majority getting its way. Most likely, Bush has a problem with the likely outcome of elections. An elected legislature might be less likely to follow orders from Washington.
No better can be expected from a man who is unelected himself.