Iraqi election - serving democracy?

The real question is not whether the election should take place or not. It is clear that there is no way an election of any democratic worth can take place in Iraq in the near future. Democracy is supposedly the cause. By definition (deficient brain's definition) the notion of a democratic election has certain prerequisites, among them freedom to travel, security, fairness, scrutiny/transparency, known candidates (like, err, their names) with known policies, known funding sources, equal media exposure - the list goes on. Clearly none of these conditions exist in Iraq.

The issue is not about democracy at all. We should be debating whether or not it is right to sacrifice the lives of maybe hundreds or possibly thousands of Iraqis to the cause of an incompetent and clearly failing US-UK-Allawi operation. Going ahead with elections they feel is the best option - for them, not necessarily the Iraqis. That is what this conniving exercise is really about.

This folly must be abandoned. Is that handing a victory to the insurgents? No, it is acknowledging reality, and retaining the one small piece of hope that free elections in Iraq might eventually represent.