Legitimizing The Occupation The heroic rescue of Jessica Lynch, the toppling of the Hussein statue, the capture of the evil dictator, and now the sham elections...What do these incidents have in common? They all were widely hailed as omens of success in our neocolonial venture in Iraq. Each one was meant to legitimize the occupation. Elections are a good thing when they lead to democracy, but even Communist nations have elections of a sort. Fidel Castro, for example, is "elected" time and time again as the Cuban head of state, chosen by loyal Communist apparachiks. How is the pre-ordained election of CIA operative Allawi any different? Tony Blair and George Bush were quick to characterise yesterday's election as a triumph of democracy over terror. Bush declared it a "resounding success", while Blair asserted that "The force of freedom was felt throughout Iraq". And yet the election fell so completely short of accepted electoral standards that had it been held in, say, Zimbabwe or Syria, Britain and America would have been the first to denounce it. ...Most candidates had been afraid to be seen in public, or to link their names to their faces in the media. The United Iraqi Alliance, identifying only 37 of their 225 candidates, explained: "We offer apologies for not mentioning the names of all the candidates ... We have to keep them alive." Read it: