Forget Ohio, Baghdad is the new Florida

Isn't it enough for the Bushies to do their best to swing election(s) here at home?

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's election body rejected a suggestion in Washington it adjust the results of next month's vote to benefit the Sunni minority if low turnout in Sunni areas means Shi'ites win an exaggerated majority in the new assembly.

Speaking of “unacceptable” interference, Electoral Commission spokesman Farid Ayar said: “Who wins, wins. That is the way it is. That is the way it will be in the election.”

U.S. diplomats in Baghdad, at pains to keep their role in the election discreet, declined comment on a New York Times report from Washington which said Sunnis might be granted extra seats if the community's vote was judged to have been too low.

U.S. officials have expressed concern that if the ballot on Jan. 30 fails to reflect Iraq's sectarian and ethnic mix due to violence and boycotts in Sunni areas, then the assembly will lack legitimacy. But any attempt to fix the proportion of seats going to the main groups in advance could have the same effect.

“The Americans are expressing their views and those aren't always the same as the Commission's,” Ayar told Reuters.

How can a democratic country like the united States of America, for 'national security purposes' trying to spread democracy throughout the world, even contemplate the idea of rigging a democratic vote? Isn't it bad enough that we invaded and occupied a sovereign nation under false pretenses? Do we really have to further oppress the Iraqi citizenry with continuing suppression of true democracy?

When will the Neo-Cons learn that Machiavelli was only correct when dealing with an intractable situation. A scenario that cannot be resolved through the established channels. The ends justify the means only under certain circumstances. A completely quarantined Saddam Hussein did not meet that criteria.

I have said before that the middle-East needs to be brought into the 21st Century. The Human Rights abuses have to stop. There must be equality for all. Religious extremism must be tempered with rationality and respect for other religions and peoples. Poverty rates must rapidly and dramatically decrease to reasonable levels.

Democracy may be the best tool to acheive these goals. It may not. But I am certain that you can't force democracy on a people. If you do you must be willing to accept the consequences. Sadly, for U.S. foreign policy, the Neo-Cons want to have it both ways.