Armitage on Iraq: "We don't see the election itself as a pivotal point"

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=615&e=2&u=/nm/20050116/pl_nm/iraq_usa_expectations_dc

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Unable to deliver on its lofty goal of bringing democracy to Iraq (news - web sites) through the Jan. 30 elections, the Bush administration is pressing a damage-control campaign to lower expectations for the vote.

With fears for a low voter turnout among Sunni Arabs due to a boycott and insurgents' intimidation, the administration no longer touts the elections as a catalyst to spread democracy across the Arab world.

Instead, U.S. officials now emphasize the political process that will follow the vote. "Clearly, we don't see the election itself as a pivotal point," Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told NPR on Friday. "It's the beginning of a process, the process where Iraqis will write a constitution and at the end of the year will actually vote for a permanent government."

Almost two years after Operation Iraqi Freedom, a raging insurgency across mainly Sunni areas forced the White House this week to prepare the American public for elections it called "less than perfect."

[burythehatchet]

1. Uncle Fester always cracks me up

[The Backlash Cometh]

2. Can you imagine how the parents of the soldiers who died in Iraq

must be feeling like now?

[babylonsister]

3. We've all been duped by this bunch.

OK, no WMDs. Now no fair elections. I must wonder again, what was the whole point? And families of dead and severely wounded soldiers must ponder whether it was worth it. This really does show the level of disconnect between those that make the rules and those that have to carry them out. My heart bleeds.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

4. This, coupled with Bush's recent "no apologies" remarks...

No apologies for the war or the way it was handled, because the people had a window of opportunity to question his leadership and that window was November 2nd, blah blah blah...

I'm guessing that we will see the full bloom of George W. Bush's unrepentant arrogance on January 20th.

[MajorFlaw]

5. I guess this is the "new truth." It doesn't inspire much confidence when

the party line keeps changing. Can't these jokers even keep their stories straight?

[saltpoint]

6. Armitage is the one member of the administration --

-- that I don't automatically ignore.

The impression I have is that Rumsfeld didn't want Armitage at State and that Armitage is a lot smarter than Rumsfeld on matters of pissing off allies, etc.

He's a loyal GOP guy on one hand, but I think a cabinet full of Richard Armitages would have done things differently than one with Rumsfeld, Wolfie, Perle, and Dick Cheney.