WP: U.S. Lowers Expectations On Iraq Vote

[kskiska]

Process Emphasized, Not Turnout or Results

Thursday, January 13, 2005; Page A01

With just over two weeks until the Iraq election, the United States is lowering its expectations for both the turnout and the results of the vote, increasingly emphasizing other steps over the next year as more important to Iraq's political transformation, according to U.S. officials.

The Bush administration played down voter turnout yesterday in determining the election's legitimacy and urged Americans not to get bogged in a numbers game in judging the balloting, a reflection of the growing concern over how much the escalating insurgency and the problem of Sunni participation may affect the vote.

"I would . . . really encourage people not to focus on numbers, which in themselves don't have any meaning, but to look on the outcome and to look at the government that will be the product of these elections," a senior administration official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity at a White House briefing yesterday. The official highlighted the low voter turnout in U.S. elections as evidence that polling numbers are not essential to legitimacy.

(snip)

At this late date, the United States also has no viable options or alternatives other than trying to go forward with the Jan. 30 election, analysts say.

"I don't think they're thinking of a Plan B. What they have is permutations of Plan A: You go for elections, hope for the best and if it doesn't materialize, you go with whatever emerges -- probably a heavily Shiite government," said Henri J. Barkey, a former State Department Iraq specialist who is now head of Leheigh University's International Relations Department. "Then you hope that this new government will be smart enough and enlightened enough to make an outreach to the Sunnis."

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5065-2005Jan12.html

[buddysmellgood]

1. To lower my expectations on the Iraqi vote, they'd have to...

line up the voters, paint bullseyes on them and give guns to the insurgents.

instead of ballots, count the number of people smiling on the street and figure they like Chalabi.

hold the election in Ohio.

[LynnTheDem]

2. Yeah! So WHAT if only 40% of Iraqi population gets to vote for unknown

candidates in a country under occupation by a foreign army, under martial law for a group of unknowns to elect an interim government!

So what if 1360 US men, women & teens have died so 40% of Iraqi population gets to vote for unkown candidates in a country under occupation by a foreign army, under martial law for a group of unknowns to elect an interim government!

And the $230 billion (so far) and world hatred are such a SMALL price to pay for making bush, his Cartel, and his buddies RICHER!

[tomkertes]

3. I wonder if they stick around or call it a win and go home n/t

[Bonobo]

4. That it would arrive at this point was a no brainer.

We always knew they wouldn't accept a govt., however duly elected by the Iraqis, that was "objectionable" to them.

I mean, did anyone ever even ASK the question of Shrub: "Well, what if the Iraqis decide that they WANT an Islamic Fundamentalist in office?"
The answer is an unequivocal NO. Not a single member of the press addressed this question to either the President or to the Public.

Now we see the Chimp actually baldly stating we should "look at the government that will be the result of this election." How obvious can they make it? The govt. is already picked because the WH is already showing acceptance of the results! Duh. We are sheep. Baaa Baaa Baaa.
But the Iraqi people are not sheep. Not lulled into a semi-hypnotic state as a result of overeating, over-consuming, and overpowering government propaganda. They will fight and we will be in for a whole new shit storm after this election.

Totally fucked anyway we play it, I think. All we can do is get the fuck outta Dodge and maybe, maybe eventually establishing relations with one or two of the three states that will form after the further bloodletting.

[cliss]

5. For a couple of days, I wondered.

Bush came on the TV and announced gloomily, that "Iraqi elections might not come out as well as hoped" and that the "insurgents (=Iraqis) were going to cause havoc at the elections".

It seemed odd that maybe Bush didn't know!! that the whole thing would be doomed. But you're right.

I think everyone knew. The Bush administration, the media, everyone. Of course, this election really was not meant for the Iraqis. It was really meant for American consumption. The notion was that we would accept the occupation more willingly if we saw some "progress" and a new goal post.

We all knew it would fail.

[xpunkisneatx]

6. Oooh...big surprise there...

I've been saying this since they said elections would take place on Jan. 30th. This past week, * has had his chimp lookin face all over TV saying "the Iraqi elections will proceed as planned"...what they edit out is "despite the tremendous loss of life that is sure to occur". I am so fed up with this country, but I have gotten to the point where the only thing I can do is throw my hands up and say "I told you so". It doesn't give me near as much satisfaction as it should...

Edit for spelling...I always put 2 r's at the end of occur for some reason!

[daleo]

7. Sounds like a Bush election

"I would . . . really encourage people not to focus on numbers, which in themselves don't have any meaning,..."

The numbers (exit polls for example) didn't have any meaning in the U.S. election either, as it turned out.

[ze_dscherman]

8. See, it's only a token election, but a big step towards democracy.

This election will be the spark that ignites the shining beacon of democracy in the ME that Iraq is becoming!

And also, that Saddam was a dangerous man. And everybody thought they had WMDs. And the war is worth it, "absolutely".

[leftchick]

9. Fake turnover in June 2004!

Fake election January 2005! Who could have predicted? :eyes:

[dbt]

10. "The soft bigotry of low expectations" rears its snaky head.

Didn't Dear Leader warn us about this? Or was he just rolling out the new product?

:evilgrin:
dbt

[durablend]

11. Already been Diebolded

No reason to worry about any nasty details like turnout or actual vote counts when the outcome has already been set.

[Supersedeas]

12. Lower expectations to the ground so a knats ass result justifies VICTORY

Does it justify the sacrifice made by our troops, again, ask Rove and the MSM...

Rove must smile at the level of media compliance.

[Redstone]

13. And they still insist on calling it

a democratic election. "It doesn't amtter how many people vote for whom, it's only important to know who we decide will win."

That buzzing noise you hear is Orwell spinning in his grave.

Redstone

[DemoTex]

14. The Chimperor has no clothes ...

The Iraqi election has no validity ...

[The_Casual_Observer]

15. As I lower my expectations of the US

[gratuitous]

16. And what manner of nonsense is this?

Henri Barkley says, "Then you hope that this new government will be smart enough and enlightened enough to make an outreach to the Sunnis."

Uh huh. Well, if the Shiites follow the example of their American overlords, they'll simply ignore the Sunnis, beat them down, enact punitive legislation, steal their money, their labor and their security, tell the Sunnis it's their own fault their condition has deteriorated, and then start rounding them up for failing to be insufficiently pro-Iraq.

That about cover it?

[Occulus]

21. no, because there's this, too

""I would . . . really encourage people not to focus on numbers, which in themselves don't have any meaning, but to look on the outcome and to look at the government that will be the product of these elections,"

I guess if only ten people vote, that's ok, because the focus is on the government coming out of the election. :crazy: But I guess in that sense Iraq is a lot like,say, Ohio.....

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

17. How Can A Lousy Puppet Government Create A Good Puppet Government n/t

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

18. Reach Out?

<<"Then you hope that this new government will be smart enough and enlightened enough to make an outreach to the Sunnis.">>

Kind of like the repubs reach out to the democrats? Sure....that's likely.

[The White Tree]

19. Remember this on Jan 31st

When, no matter what happens, all the right-wingers, pundits and propaganda ministers are trumpeting about how successful Bush has been by making the election happen just like they did after the elections in Afghanistan.

They should be reminded that "the United States is ....emphasizing other steps over the next year as more important to Iraq's political transformation (then holding elections), according to U.S. officials"

[Ripley]

20. Smirk Mantra...

Lowering expectations for economic numbers every quarter, job growth, security from terrorism, you name it.

How low must the bar go before people wake the fuck up?