The CIA's Attempt to Rig the Iraqi Elections

[axi]

Personally I don't buy this bull****.

The US is practically running Iraq right now and they have a multitude of ways to affect the outcome of any coming elections. Barring sattelite TV, they decide what the media in Iraq will say. They will decide which parts of the country are "safe enough" to hold elections. They will decide which of the candidates are "legal" to participate. Their admiistration and the subcontractors they totally control are the main employers in Iraq and thus they have the power to coerce a large numbe rof people to vote "accordingly". Plus, who the hell in Iraq is going to check where each candidate gets their funds from?

So why need a covert CIA operation in order to just provide funding to a couple of candidates? And how come this is the first time such a plan is disclosed to the public? Does this mean that in past elections in foreign countries (in Venezuela f.e.) the CIA did not make any plans to rig the elections? How come no such plans were ever disclosed? Does this mean that in that and in many other cases where it is concievable, the CIA actually implemented such plans and that's why nothing was disclosed? From an intelligence point of view, such disclosures are catastrophically bad practice, so they wouldn't happen unless another purpose would be served.

IMO, that purpose is just a sham effort to lead the public opinion (chiefly in the USA, since nobody in Iraq or the rest of the world is THAT daft) away from the evident fact that no democratic elections can be held in Iraq, as long as the USA is occupying the country. CIA or no CIA, the elections will be rigged, otherwise, the occupation cannot be continued.

[Ramo]

It was never going to happen, Einstein. Read the article...

Only because someone leaked it to Pelosi, demonstrating my point (and "scaled back" isn't the same thing as cancelled, Feynman).

Pelosi had strong words with National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice in a phone call about the issue.

[...]

A senior U.S. official hinted that, under pressure from the Hill, the Administration scaled back its original plans.

And,

[Drake Tungsten]

There you go again...

No one leaked it to Pelosi. She found out about it when they sent the idea to Capitol Hill for review. Of course, you've never been one to let the facts stand between you and a quality pwning by me.

[Ramo]

Well, it's early, I misread, big deal. In any case, the source indicated the program was scaled back, not necessarily eliminated. So, I'm afraid you'd already pwned yourself.

And it's still good that the source leaked this to the press, to make sure the Bush Admin doesn't implement this plan at all.

[Drake Tungsten]

If it was questionable to refer to it as a rigging of the election in the first place and has now been scaled back to not include covert action, what exactly are you *****ing about?

[Ramo]

It wasn't questionable to refer to it as such, and it's still there (overt hijacking of democracy is still bad) if the source is to be believed. I don't see what you're *****ing about.

[Drake Tungsten]

I'm *****ing about someone leaking classified information, for no good reason, that damages American efforts in Iraq.

[Moral Hazard]

By legitimate. I meant legitimate enough not to totally disregard the constitution they setup.

About foreign interests contributing to campaigns. They have legitimate interests in what the US does. So why shouldn't they contribute to campaigns? All of that is a joke.

Of course we'd hate it. Remember the stink with Clinton and the Chinese.

But if the US had spent the last 30 years under a dictator, there was a threat of southern Republicans setting up a theocracy, because they were the majority. There was a 30% unemployment and a massive insurgency problem. I'd be more concerned with my safety and employment than whether or not some other country had undue influence.

I'm not saying that the Iraqi's don't care if we have undue influence. They do. The analogy is terrible.

Axi makes a good point aside from his conspiracy implications. The US will strongly influence this election.

[Ramo]

I'm *****ing about someone leaking classified information, for no good reason, that damages American efforts in Iraq.

Eh? There's a perfectly good reason for this info to be leaked - to prevent the gov't from implementing such a plan. I'm betting that Pelosi went to the press with this info herself to prevent the Bush Admin from implementing it. It's her leverage, since there isn't much else that she can do.

[Ramo]

The last Iraqi gov't that was seen as a puppet of foreigners (the Brits) was PM Nuri al-Said's, and his corpse was dragged through the streets in a revolution.

[Drake Tungsten]

There's a perfectly good reason for this info to be leaked - to prevent the gov't from implementing such a plan.

To keep the Government from implementing a plan that they have already decided not to implement?



Moving away from fantasy-land, the most obvious motive for the leak is to hurt Bush's electoral chances. As such, Pelosi might well be behind it, but I would put my money on someone associated with the Kerry campaign. We'll probably never know who committed this act, though...

[Ramo]

As I said, this is Pelosi's guarantee that this doesn't happen if Shrub wins the election. This is basically the only thing that stops him from changing his mind on 11/3.

[PLATO]

I would have been disappointed with the CIA if they had not come up with this plan.

I would be disappointed if they didn't come up with other plans as well.

I would be disappointed if the Admin and Congress had proceeded.

It looks to me that everything happened as it should...with the exception of illegal leaking of classified information.

[Ramo]

The Admin tried to take the plan to Congress, and they objected strongly. What the Admin did was not what it should have done.

[Drake Tungsten]

Originally posted by PLATO
I would have been disappointed with the CIA if they had not come up with this plan.

I would be disappointed if they didn't come up with other plans as well.

I would be disappointed if the Admin and Congress had proceeded.

It looks to me that everything happened as it should...with the exception of illegal leaking of classified information.