Everything the U.S. leaders hoped to achieve by launching this illegal war in Iraq has fallen apart. Their public intent was to establish a moderate democracy in Iraq, as a foil to the theocracy in Iran. Thus the preferred winners would be secularists.
Instead with the elections having been held, the winners are Shi'ite and Kurdish parties with close ties to Iran. Instead of being a foil to Iran, the future government of Iraq (the distribution of seats and roles are still being decided) will be close to Iran.
As I had written back in the summer of 2003 (Background Material) the The Project for a New American Century NewAmericanCentury.org) had been promoting the idea of installing "moderate" democracy in the middle of the middle east, that is, in Iraq. That by doing so it would tilt the middle east to American/Western influence. Sheer megalomania, but beyond that it's sheer idiocy to think that you can install democracy at the point of a gun. But just who is the Project for a New American Century? Why, it's Rumsfeld, Cheney, Wolfowitz, Perle, and the others who have been running the Defense Department and calling the shots in Washington.
Now, with this election, it's clear that what they'll have as the result is anything but the moderate democracy they desired. That's the problem with democracy they might be saying, give the people the vote and you can't control the results.
Iraq Winners Allied With Iran Are the Opposite of U.S. Vision (By Robin Wright, Washington Post Staff Writer, Monday, February 14, 2005; Page A08)
US fights back against 'rule by clerics' (By Syed Saleem Shahzad; Asia Times.COM)
Iraqi vote gives Shia parties a mandate for Islamic law (By David Enders in Baghdad and Daniel Howden; 14 February 2005; The Independant (london))
Trio of Sistani-backed Shiites vying for premiership
Iranian Shadow Falls Over Baghdad (by Aaron Glantz; AntiWar.COM)
Shiites gain political control of Iraq, will dominate assembly (By Tom Lasseter and Nancy A. Youssef Knight Ridder Newspapers)
They failed. They have no credibility. Why are they still in office?
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