Untidy Lying Media Bastards
Sy Hersh tells us that the Bush administration made plans to covertly influence the outcome of the 2005 Iraqi election, attempting to win votes for specific candidates. Yes, I’m sure you’re all shocked.
Apparently Congress opposed this plan, so the White House had to do this covert action… uh, double ultra secret covertly. This just proves that either the Bush administration has never fucking cared about bringing democracy to Iraq, or that they define “democracy” much differently than the rest of us. Honestly, I think it’s both of the above.
Of course, the US has a long history of secretly supporting one candidate over another in foreign countries. And if that doesn’t work, overthrowing the opponent after he takes power. Or, destablizing the entire country, and then overthrowing the opponent. I once again recommend the book Killing Hope for examples.
Juan Cole reminds us of a long legacy of Western powers interfering in Middle Eastern democracy. To the point that I imagine many in the region think “democracy” means “the white people are gonna fuck with us again.”
