Who "won" in Iraq's elections?(Insider Report)

"Today, the people of Iraq have spoken to the world, and the world is hearing the voice of freedom from the center of the Middle East," asserted President Bush in a January 30 speech. Pundits from across the partisan divide were eager to describe the first Iraqi elections held under U.S. military occupation as a significant milestone in the "global march of freedom."

The president, predictably, was eager to seize upon the election as a validation of his decision to invade Iraq. However, as Time magazine correctly noted, the "real author" of the election was Iranian-born Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who had issued a fatwa (religious order) commanding Iraq's Shi'ite Muslims to flock to the polls on behalf of Shi'ite-approved candidates. "The U.S. had never intended for Iraqis to democratically choose the body that would write their new constitution," continued Time. "Washington had envisaged an election only after a constitution had been written by a body appointed by, and under the tutelage of the U.S."

The original plan had been to hand Iraq over to a government composed of Iraqi exiles hand-picked by Washington and led by fugitive Ahmed Chalabi (who, as it turns out, may have been an Iranian agent). Plan "B" was ...