Fire McGurk
Brett McGurk is the special US presidential envoy to Iraq, he is well known for his cosy relationship with Iranian sponsored Iraqi politicians such as Maliki.
Please don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with having a good relationship with potential adversaries who might drag you into long, costly and fruitless confrontations. Before his election, Pres. Obama declared a policy of full military withdrawal from Iraq. Full withdrawal from Iraq could not be achieved without coordination with Iran, McGurk had the right ideas and was the right man for the right job then.
Now the situation is different. The Iraqi elections which ran today was controlled by the “Independent” High Electoral Commission, composed proportionately by the most corrupt political parties in the government. Reports from branch stations indicate dismal participation; mostly no more than 30%. However, just before closing the polls the official word from the High Commission came out with an overall participation figure of 45%.
This raised a red flag to me because most of the Iraqis I know boycotted this year’s elections (I did participate and I have the inked finger to prove it!).
The Iraqi Elections High Commission has no monopoly over truth but McGurk acts as if it does. To many Iraqis the over estimation of participation is just the first stage of election forgery which we have seen all too clearly in previous elections.
McGurk is back in Baghdad today to start cooking another turn-a-blind-eye deal to corruption and fraud.
Elections were expected to be the tool to peaceful change, instead they became no more than a rubber stamp for the status quo and a cover up to corrupt high officials, this is why so many Iraqis did not bother to show up at the election stations. It is sad to see the envoy of the POTUS as the chief cook to this ugly transformation.
To restore faith in democracy Brett McGurk should be removed from influencing Iraqi affairs and the elections should be re-run under the supervision of the UN Security Council.
A clean UN run elections in Iraq is beneficial not only to Iraq but to the peoples of the region, all of whom suffer from undemocratic regimes.
Apologies for the flag alteration to the original cartoon artist Mana Neyestani.