A shot of Democracy unlikely to cure Iraq ills.

Senior U.S. officials have begun to question a key presumption of American strategy in Iraq: that establishing democracy there can erode and ultimately eradicate the insurgency gripping the country.

The expectation that political progress would bring stability has been fundamental to the Bush administration's approach to rebuilding Iraq as well as a central theme of White House rhetoric to convince the American public that its policy in Iraq remains on course.

But within the last two months, U.S. analysts with access to classified intelligence data have started to challenge this precept, noting a "significant and disturbing disconnect" between apparent advances on the political front and any progress in reducing insurgent attacks.

There is one glaring flaw in this analysis. There is no Democracy in Iraq!

Democracy is not forced on a populace, it is chosen. Democracy is not implanted, it grows naturally. There is no democracy in Iraq. It does not exist there. And here is another news flash! It will never happen as long as American troops are roaming the streets of Baghdad!

Iraq is occupied, not free. How stupid is this administration that they cannot understand the hesitancy of these people to run to the polls and engage in this social experiment en mass? And don't point to the January 30th elections as proof that they want democracy. Never has there been a more artificial environment created to give the impression that these people were braving certain death to exercise their Ameican given right to vote. The whole thing was a giant photo op.

Democracy can come to Iraq. I believe that it is possible. But it will not happen anytime soon. The next goverment that Iraq embraces will more likely be an Islamic run Theocracy. But over time it very likely will evolve into something similar to our democracy. It could take a very long time indeed. We may have left a bad taste in their mouth concerning what democracy is really all about.