Democracy, Iraq

Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those others that have been tried.

-Winston Churchill

I am profoundly confused what democracy constitutes, this thing that's spreading like wildfire (along with a product called freem) throughout the MudlEast (© curmudgeon).

Questions
How can democracy be imposed?
If few vote, or choices are restricted, can elections be 'free and fair'?
Is democracy facilitated when elected leaders over-ride popular will?
How can restrictions of individuals' freedoms enhance democracy?
Why are Velvet, Orange or Cedar Revolutions thumbs up, but not half-a-million pro-Syrian Lebanese demonstrators yesterday, or 1 million anti-war marchers in London 2003?
Is it democratic that votes of a few towns in Ohio, easily tweaked, determined US Election 2004?
If democracy's so great, why does it require protection by the UK Upper House of hereditary and appointed Lords to protect basic civil liberties?

Harry's Hellhole has been riding high on a wave of Bush-promoted Freem and Mocracy- Iraqi elections, Ukrainian re-election and anti-Syrian demonstrations in Lebanon. The prevalent media pictures of attractive, belly-revealing, unveiled young Lebanese women help, I have no doubt. But I like to spend some idle moments imagining how Harry's Harem are to going to cope with and accommodate to conditions when Iraq continues to be a goddawful fucking mess this year and next.

With their Islamofascism line, the path is already laid to facilitate the blaming of the victim when our Mess-o-Potamia persists and the brown people resist being grateful for everything we've done for them. These people are steeped in feudalism and religious fundamentalism, they don't understand freewill and self-determinism, you give them good services and they simply destroy them, blah, blah, blah... I can hear it now.

For more info on freem and mocracy, check out today's Fisk article from the Indy (which will hopefully appear on Globalecho later today). Avaialable at truthout currently.

Also from today's Indie is Johann Hari's latest- 'A tale of two revolutions', comparing perceptions of democracy in Bolivia and Lebanon, but clearly written before the massive pro-Syrian demonstrations yesterday and restating that life under Saddam was far worse than life now. Before the sanctions, life under Saddam included necessities such as electricity, water, food and health services.

Meanwhile, here's how last week's Baghdad bombing played out, in case anyone's interested in what democracy means in Iraq just now.

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From Baghdad Burning:

The event of the week occurred last Wednesday and I was surprised it wasn’t covered by Western press. It’s not that big a deal, but it enraged people in Baghdad and it can also give a better picture of what has been going on with our *heroic* National Guard. There was an explosion on Wednesday in Baghdad and the wounded were all taken to Yarmuk Hospital, one of the larger hospitals in Baghdad. The number of wounded were around 30- most of them National Guard. In the hospital, it was chaos- patients wounded in this latest explosion, patients from other explosions and various patients from gunshot wounds, etc. The doctors were running around everywhere, trying to be in four different places at once.

Apparently, there weren’t enough beds. Many of the wounded were in the hallways and outside of the rooms. The stories vary. One doctor told me that some of the National Guard began screaming at the doctors, telling them to ignore the civilians and tend to the wounds of the Guard. A nurse said that the National Guard who weren’t wounded began pulling civilians out of the beds and replacing them with wounded National Guard. The gist of it is generally the same; the doctors refused the idea of not treating civilians and preferring the National Guard over them and suddenly a fight broke out. The doctors threatened a strike if the National Guard began pulling the civilians out of beds.

The National Guard decided the solution to the crisis would be the following- they’d gather up some of the doctors and nurses and beat them in front of the patients. So several doctors were rounded up and attacked by several National Guard (someone said there was liberal use of electric batons and the butts of some Klashnikovs).

The doctors decided to go on strike.

It’s difficult to consider National Guardsmen as heroes with the image of them beating doctors in white gowns in ones head. It’s difficult to see them as anything other than expendable Iraqis with their main mission being securing areas and cities for Americans.