Again confounding elections with success

We keep hearing that the administration is expecting a “good” election in Iraq, a “successful” election, and that if this occurs, it will represent a great victory for us, almost a miraculous achievement. I find this attitude odd. I never doubted that an election would occur, that people would go to polls and vote for parties or candidates, and that some type of government would be set up as a result. I’ve expected that to happen all along, so I’m not excited by its achievement. It doesn’t matter in the least because what matters is not whether some kind of government can be set up. What matters is whether the enemy can be defeated, because without that, the elected government won’t be able to survive and we’ll have to keep our forces in Iraq forever. Unlike the Bushites, I put the horse before the cart.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at January 28, 2005 02:15 AM | Send