The Election in Iraq:
"a tale, told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
signifying nothing."
-William Shakespeare
The media and the Bush Administration are in high gear,
trumpeting this weekend's election as a victory for
democracy. However, this election changes nothing on the
ground in Iraq. On Monday, January 31, the day after the
election, the people of Iraq woke up with 150,000 U.S.
troops occupying their country, CIA asset Ayad Allawi the
appointed head of state, and the Pentagon's plans to build
14 permanent military bases still proceeding.
Democracy means, "rule of the people." What happened on
Sunday merely continues rule by military occupation and an
appointed government.
This was a meaningless election.
This piece of political theater can't even be accurately
described as an election. In an election, voters get to
choose candidates who will then hold office and exercise
some measure of power.
In this election, voters didn't get to vote for a
candidate, or even for a political party. Instead, they
were allowed to vote for a list, which may include several
parties or individuals--there was no way to know. These
lists were approved by the Bremer-appointed High
Commission for Elections. The names of the 7,700
candidates were not publicly available, so there was no
way to know who was actually being voted for.
The candidates who are eventually selected by this process
will exercise no executive or legislative authority. They
will form a transitional national assembly, which will
draft a constitution under the supervision of the
occupiers.
The people of Iraq were not given the opportunity to vote
against the occupation--they were allowed to vote for
anonymous lists, representing U.S.-approved candidates
that will not have the power to alter U.S. plans to
colonize Iraq.
Of course, the people of Iraq want to vote in free and
open elections to determine their own future, but the
occupation was not on the ballot, rendering any pretense
at an election meaningless.
The more than 100,000 people who were killed by the U.S.
during this war were not given the opportunity to vote.
Nor were the prisoners in the torture chambers of Abu
Ghraib.
"a tale, told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
signifying nothing."
-William Shakespeare
The media and the Bush Administration are in high gear,
trumpeting this weekend's election as a victory for
democracy. However, this election changes nothing on the
ground in Iraq. On Monday, January 31, the day after the
election, the people of Iraq woke up with 150,000 U.S.
troops occupying their country, CIA asset Ayad Allawi the
appointed head of state, and the Pentagon's plans to build
14 permanent military bases still proceeding.
Democracy means, "rule of the people." What happened on
Sunday merely continues rule by military occupation and an
appointed government.
This was a meaningless election.
This piece of political theater can't even be accurately
described as an election. In an election, voters get to
choose candidates who will then hold office and exercise
some measure of power.
In this election, voters didn't get to vote for a
candidate, or even for a political party. Instead, they
were allowed to vote for a list, which may include several
parties or individuals--there was no way to know. These
lists were approved by the Bremer-appointed High
Commission for Elections. The names of the 7,700
candidates were not publicly available, so there was no
way to know who was actually being voted for.
The candidates who are eventually selected by this process
will exercise no executive or legislative authority. They
will form a transitional national assembly, which will
draft a constitution under the supervision of the
occupiers.
The people of Iraq were not given the opportunity to vote
against the occupation--they were allowed to vote for
anonymous lists, representing U.S.-approved candidates
that will not have the power to alter U.S. plans to
colonize Iraq.
Of course, the people of Iraq want to vote in free and
open elections to determine their own future, but the
occupation was not on the ballot, rendering any pretense
at an election meaningless.
The more than 100,000 people who were killed by the U.S.
during this war were not given the opportunity to vote.
Nor were the prisoners in the torture chambers of Abu
Ghraib.
0 Comments: