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Behold, King George the W hath looked upon his work in Iraq, and it pleaseth him much. Just before Christmas, the Occupier-in-chief spoketh these words: “You take a step back and look at progress in Iraq, you say, well, it’s amazing – constitutional democracy in the heart of the Middle East, which is a remarkable development in itself.”
What’s amazing, of course, is that anyone (much less a president) could be so obtuse, so isolated in his own cocoon, so trapped by his own arrogance and ignorance that he could publicly utter such nonsense, much less try to pass it off as an insight. Bush says that Iraq’s democracy is “remarkable,” and indeed it is, so let’s remark.
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When this so-called democratic government was first being formed, the Bushites were appalled that Iraq’s newly-elected leaders were about to choose as prime minister a guy the White House did not like. So the occupying power asserted itself to reject the democratic choice, leading to the selection of the present prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki.
But, lo, Maliki has not pleased the Bushites, so our government has been plotting for weeks behind the scenes in Baghdad to dispose of the Iraqi government’s current ruling coalition, form a new one, and dismiss Maliki. Now that’s a truly remarkable “democratic” development.
However, Bush & Gang have been foiled in this ploy by an even less-democratic development. They were all set to impose their new coalition of Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds when – whoops! – the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the country’s top Shiite cleric, abruptly said no to the scheme. One man, not elected to any office, ensconced in his religious headquarters far from Baghdad, is widely considered the law by the Shiite majority in Iraq. So he – not the constitution, not the elected officials, not even the Bushites – has the last word.
This is Jim Hightower saying… Hello, George… that’s a theocracy, not a democracy.
Sources:
“Iraq’s top Shiite cleric rejects new coalition,” Austin American-Statesman, December 24, 2006.
“Bush takes the long view,” Austin American-Statesman, December 24, 2006.