The CIA's Attempt to Rig the Iraqi Elections

[Ramo]

Seeing as how Sistani has pointed out, the elections are going to be from candidate lists picked by the central gov't, composed of members from the mostly exile parties we handed power over to, I'm not sure who the Iranians are going to give covert support to. SCIRI, and to a lesser extent, Da'wa seem to be the most likely candidates, but these are parties that we've given large amounts of power to and have had some falling outs with Tehran anyways. It'd be pretty damn idiotic to bankroll opponents of SCIRI after we've lavished all this power on them. Not just evil, but incredibly, absolutely inept. The other possibility, of course, is that they're making up the Iran story and just wanted to buy themselves an election. Since this gov't has had its fair share of both total malevolence and total incompetence, I'm not sure which one it is.

[Moral Hazard]

Which is how Jefferson defined tyranny. I wonder if the Iraqis will compel their fellow citizens to support certain candidates, sounds like something the terrorists would do. Donations for Yusef Islam, donations PLEASE

I was saying that. It's ok for US to fund an Iraqi candidate. Oh and you bet Iraqis will compel their fellow citizens to vote a certain way.

Who's the latest author to have served in the Bush administration?

Quit being vague dammit. I take my news in spurts, I don't pay attention for weeks at a time. I can miss details. I think I know who you mean but the name eludes me.

the result will another mess that will cost lives.

Obviously I disagree and I don't care about the first part.

It doesn't matter if this government creates the Constitution, it'll be ignored once "the legitimate" representatives of the people get elected.

The government would still be viewed as legitimate. They would have still been voted in by the Iraqis. Just because our representitives take donations and are influence by campaign contributions doesn't make them illegitimate.

Imperative to this endeavor are the stakes Iraqis have in this system... We start removing those stakes when we fund pro-US candidates...

They still have a stake, we would just be influencing them.

And that's what is driving this, a distrust of the Iraqi people. We have to trust them.

In time but people without jobs, little food, bullets whizzing by and super crappy conditions aren't rational. If we give money to our candidates they can go out and do soup kitchens and gun buy backs

There will definitely be irregualarities in the upcoming elections. Most will be caused by Iraqi's themselves. And there definitely will be shia majority

[Harovan]

Originally posted by Moral Hazard
The government would still be viewed as legitimate. They would have still been voted in by the Iraqis. Just because our representitives take donations and are influence by campaign contributions doesn't make them illegitimate.

No. It makes them corrupt at best. Corrupt US stooges, I am sure the Iraqis would love this government to death, literally.

By the way, how would the US perceive it, if a foreign power tried to influence their elections by ... ummm ... well directed "donations"?

[The Mad Monk]

We wouldn't like it at all -- which goes back to what I'm saying.

This cannot harm Bush, except by making the Iraq situation more difficult.

This release can only harm the nation.

[Drake Tungsten]

Betters? I rank you with Park Avenue and Fez!!

See? You're obviously deranged. Better, indeed...

[Ramo]

No. Leaking this helps to deter this Admin (and any other) from doing more evil-retarded things like this. And it reminds others of our freedom of press that disinfects gov't abuse. The checks and balances that we have in our system are the only thing that make this gov't at all credible.

[Drake Tungsten]

And it reminds others of our freedom of press that disinfects gov't abuse.

What government abuse, in this case?

[Ramo]

Rigging elections.

[Drake Tungsten]

No one rigged any election...

[Ramo]

That's what this plan is, whatever euphemism you might prefer to use.

[Ramo]

It is sad, though, that so many Polytubbies' problems with this is not that the US is thwarting democracy and ****ing up Iraq, but that someone had the gall to leak to press that the US is thwarting democracy and ****ing up Iraq. What a bunch of Stalinists.

[Drake Tungsten]

That's what this plan is

Since when does having a plan to do something (which is debateable, in this case) equal actually doing it?

[Harovan]

Having plans is not wrong. As TMM pointed out, that's what the CIA is supposed to do. But to bring them actively to the Congress is actually an attempt to do it. And in most crimes the attempt alone is already liable to persecution.

[Ramo]

Leaking it before the undermining of democracy happens seems to me a better way to prevent this undermining of democracy, than leaking after it already happens.

[Drake Tungsten]

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