There is more to democracy than just voting
In Iraq, we should be showing the Iraqis what it takes to be a stable, responsive democracy. One of the keys to a stable democracy is the Rule of Law. Actually, the Rule of Law is more important than democratic voting because without the Rule of Law, democratic elections quickly turn into a farce. Saddam Hussein was always popularly elected as president, but there was no Rule of Law to force honest elections.
Saddam's goons could intimidate, maim, kidnap and kill Iraqis without ever being punished. The Iraqis had no one to complain to. As far as Saddam's goons were concerned, the Iraqi people had no rights. Sadly, it appears that the American troops can intimidate, maim, kidnap and kill Iraqis without ever being punished. The Iraqis appear to have no one with whom they can file complaints. As far as I can tell, American troops act as if the Iraqis have no rights.
What the US military should have done before the war is set up boards of inquiry. Whenever an Iraqis is injured or killed outside of combat, a board of inquiry would be convened, its members would get dispositions from witnesses, and then they would rule on the case. Most of the rulings would be focused on establishing procedures for the military to follow to prevent the same thing from happening again. The board would then pay money to the injured and family of the dead as compensation for their loss. If a soldier purposely caused harm, he or she would be referred to a court martial.
I am not saying our troops are evil like Saddam's goons. I am sure that 99% of the the deaths and injuries are due to confusion, misunderstanding and/or poor communication. But without a public investigation, the Iraqis won't know this. Without systematic investigations, the military isn't going to know how to improve its policies to prevent reoccurances. Most importantly, the only way Iraqis can get justice now when they or their loved ones are intimidated, maimed, kidnapped or killed is to shot or bomb American troops. This creates a terrible cycle where the American troops do something wrong, the Iraqis try to get revenge by shooting or bombing, the Americans retaliate and cause more injuries, and more Iraqis try to get revenge.
By concentrating on having just one national vote and ignore the lack of the Rule of Law, Dubya's administration is almost guaranteeing that Iraq's experiment with democracy will fail.
6:15:54 AM 
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