Lowering Expectations for the Iraqi Vote

Posted on January 13, 2005

There are numerous ongoing problems with getting people to vote in Iraq. The Washington Post has a mind-boggling article today entitled: "U.S. Lowers Expectations On Iraq Vote Process Emphasized, Not Turnout or Results." The White House tells us that although a) many parts of Iraq are so dangerous that elections simply can't be held; b) that many election officials have been either killed or intimidated; and c) the Sunnis are going to just sit this one out; these are not signs that anything is wrong in Iraq.

We should really just lower our expectations. Just the fact that anyone at all is going to vote shows that things are going just swell. "The election is not going to be perfect," said White House press secretary Scott McClellan, showing his mastery of the art of understatement. Well, I will say this for McClellan: my expectations of a democratic, post-war Iraq have certainly been lowered. So, in that sense, their post-war strategy is working.