[continue]
President Bush has made the decision that there be caucuses representing different parts of the country to choose a governing body before the June 30 deadline. In effect, he says the country is not ready for elections, so we will have a system where the United States has direct control over who the "representatives" are.
Ayatolah Sistani, a powerful Shi'ite leader countered that Iraq should have direct elections as soon as possible. Imagine this: Sistani is an Iranian living in Iraq and he is in favor of democracy.
What is the unbelievable American response? There is no time for direct democracy! Why not? Because we have an election this year in U.S.? Is this more important than establishing democracy in Iraq, something we have sacrificed blood to achieve? Must there be an election in Iraq before June 30? Wouldn't it be great to have it July 4? Or August 4? Or even November 2, America's election day?
Since Ayatolah Sistani had tens of thousands of Shi'ites demonstrating in Iraq, Bush decided to shove some of the responsibility onto the UN. In essence he told the UN: "Please do a study to determine that Iraq can not have elections before June 30, 2004." Poor Kofi Anan. What should he do?
Along comes Ahmed Chalabi, a member of the Iraq Governing Council, and someone that the American government has boosted for a long time, and says:
"I believe that elections are possible. Seek to make them possible and they will be possible."
Exactly. I have no idea how long it takes to prepare the necessary steps to run an election. But if Iraqis want democracy, who are we to say no? Who are we to set a deadline on their aspirations? Who are we to go against our own best inclinations?
Now we hear that Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is coming to Washington next week to discuss the Kurds of Iraq. Will this discussion affect the type of "democracy" Iraq will have? Will Erdogan have more to say about the Iraqi Kurds' future than the Kurds in Iraq? Will he have more influence than Sistani or Chalabi?
The Kurds in Iraq are the only people in Iraq that have already established a form of democracy. Don't they deserve it? Why should they caucus? Why should the Shi'ites caucus? Why shouldn't Iraq have direct elections?
Who is for democracy anyway?
