Musafir's Musings

Bits and pieces of news about attempts to manipulate votes in Iraq's election held in January indicated that it was not the shining example of democratic process that President Bush often mentions.

Now the whole sordid affair has been exposed. Seymour Hersh's article "Get Out The Vote" (Did Washington try to manipulate Iraq's election?) in The New Yorker, July 25th issue, goes deep into the heart of the matter. In an effort to put Iyad Allawi and other favored candidates responsive to our needs and commands in place, we covertly funded them. The money, however, failed to achieve the desired result. While the Iraqis did not end up with a good government they certainly thwarted the CPA's plans for one headed completely by puppets. Not difficult to imagine the chagrin of the plotters.

Mr. Hersh mentioned Larry Diamond's recent book "Squandered Victory". Mr. Diamond served as a senior adviser in Iraq's Coalition Provisional Authority under Paul Bremmer.

SQUANDERED VICTORY
The American Occupation
and the Bungled Effort to
Bring Democracy to Iraq.
By Larry Diamond.
369 pp. Times Books. $25.
*******
"As the number of suicide bombings in Iraq has risen dramatically, and as insurgents return to areas from which they had been driven by coalition forces in previous months, more terrorism and security experts are asking if Iraq has become an "unwinnable war" for the US and its coalition partners."

The Christian Science Monitor, "Can U.S. Britain 'Win' In Iraq?"