There was a tone of triumph after Iraq’s elections. Western diplomats crowed that the polls were as democratic as any in the Arab world, ever. An American military commander told me he even yelled “attaboy!” to the Iraqi troops who kept the country relatively secure as people cast their ballots on March 7. World leaders paid tribute to Iraqis who had committed to democracy. Even as a post-election vortex swirled and bombings filled a political vacuum, people stressed that the elections had been an achievement. As one British politician put it, Iraq was on its way to becoming a “beacon of democracy” for the Middle East; the withdrawal of American troops, which depended on successful elections, is now set to begin at the end of August. But this election was held up with the scaffolding of an American-led international presence, which bullied and wheedled a recalcitrant Iraq into holding a
