Iraq election madness

Violence, TV work in favor of the puppet


Allawi & Bush: Their mission? Stop "terrorists who want to disrupt progress in Iraq"; or is it to stop the Iraqi people from taking control of their own history?

Have you noticed that it is very difficult to find presented in US media any mention of the candidates, programs, or of even the most basic idea of what is at stake in the coming Iraqi vote? What directions would the various parliamentary slates take the country? We get mostly Bushian sap about the wonders of Democracy, but nothing about how this grand vision might apply in a country meeting the brutal war crimes of the American occupation with an increasingly violent anti-colonial resistance.

Presumably, if the puppet prime minister Iyad Allawi keeps power in Iraq, he would give the US a blank check to operate its military in the country. But what of the other slates? Would any reject the US and ask it to leave, as polls within Iraq have for a long time consistently shown at least four out of five Iraqis desire?

I will make a prediction. Somehow, Allawi will keep power after the January 30 election date. I'm not basing this on any specific knowledge, just a hunch. As Chomsky would say, democracy is fine as long as the correct choices are made and as long as the resulting government takes orders from its master. And recent reports of secret telephone conferences between the White House, Allawi, and Jordan's King Abdullah portend that something is up.

Meanwhile in Iraq, the contest hardly registers in the country as it is wracked by American and resistance violence. Iraqis face a gas and fuel crisis, lack of reconstruction, problems with clean water and medical facilities -- much suffering resulting directly from the American action.

This is an absolutely crazy environment for an election. But, the Bush-insistent process moves forward. As far as I can tell, it seems to boil down to two possible parliamentary slates -- the United Iraqi Alliance, which is led by Abdul Aziz al-Hakim (the party head of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq), and Bush puppet Iyad Allawi's mostly secular Iraqi List. These two are the ones that look like they might come out on top, out of the 7,000 candidates representing 111 parties vying for the 275 parliamentary seats.

If Allawi wins, US domination of the political process is assured. Only the Shiite coalition stands a chance of being any sort of alternative.

The two slates are seeking victory in different ways. The Iraqi List is using a good old American-style media campaign to promote Allawi, who otherwise has zero constituency. On the other hand, UIA has a large, ready Shiite constituency. So it should win easily. It apparently is working to get clerical support, most significantly from Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani. According to a posting by Juan Cole, Sistani may now be "throwing his support to the slate of the United Iraqi Alliance."

Cole also mentions that "The UIA candidates continue to face severe danger. Al-Hakim narrowly missed being assassinated recently."

It's hard to find any discussion of the details in the US press, but Voice of America ran this quite interesting piece on the contest. In "Violence mars Iraqi candidates' ability to reach voters", VOA reports that

The near-daily violence aimed at derailing the elections has presented candidates and their slates extreme challenges, as well as opportunities, for reaching voters.

For the second time in less than three weeks, the leader of the Democratic Islamic Party, Mithal al-Alousi escaped the fate of his predecessor, killed in late December by Sunni Muslim insurgents and terrorists opposed to holding elections in Iraq....Chain-smoking to calm his frayed nerves, Mr. Alousi expresses deep frustration, complaining that he and his running mates are being forced to spend time, not canvassing for votes, but trying to stay alive....

Two of the largest, and the richest, slates on the ballot are the 225-member United Iraqi Alliance, a powerhouse coalition of mostly-Shiite groups, and the largely secular Iraqi List, led by the interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.

By far, the Iraqi list has been the most aggressive in buying airtime on television. (emphasis added)

So that's how they're doing it -- selling Allawi on TV as the tough hand against the violence. For Allawi, more violence is better. No one else can run a campaign, the candidates are too scared to be in public. Allawi dominates on television. It's only the Shiite UIA left standing in the way of Bush/Allawi domination. Is it so hard to believe -- with Bush in charge and all potential voters living in a climate of deep-seated fear -- that some sort of chicanery, perhaps including supressing votes (violence is perfect for that), stuffing the ballot boxes, and gathering votes from the diaspora would come into play?

The New York Times and Washington Post both had recent stories concerning the election environment. Judge for yourself what all this means:

Rising Violence and Fear Drive Iraq Campaigners Underground

The threat of death hung so heavily over the election rally, held this week on the fifth floor of the General Factory for Vegetable Oil, that the speakers refused to say whether they were candidates at all.

Anxious Iraqis Are Leaving Before Elections

...At another travel agency nearby, Abu Ahmed, 41, bought three airline tickets to Amman, Jordan, for his family. Although he is a member of Baghdad's electoral commission, he said he planned to leave within days.

"I will not stay in Baghdad during the election," Abu Ahmed said. He said that when he arrived home last week, three strange men in a blue sedan were waiting outside and one of them put a knife to his neck.

"I think that was enough warning for me," he said.

Update 1/19/2005 14:45: I fixed a bad sentence and the link that goes with the photo. The BBC hourly news has an Iraqi election official saying that the ballots & ballot boxes are ready for distribution. People "will know" where to vote. But isn't it a mockery of an election when the polling places are only defined at the very last minute? The voters will find out the locations no sooner than the bombers will.