Iraqi voters won't be fooled again

Well in keeping with the precedent set with the US assisted elections back in January, where voters were expected to cast ballots for numbers without knowing the identities of their candidates, we are now days away from the referendum on the newly hatched constitution, where Iraqis are being asked to vote on the document without ever having seen a copy of it.

In the understatement of the week, Condi Rice says, "The good news is that you're getting very heavy debate and interest in this entire process," ...noting that Sunnis are registering to vote in large numbers, including some who disagree with the constitution.

Interest may be too strong a word, as the WaPo reports,

"Excitement over the charter seems low, and officials' ongoing deal-making -- long after the Aug. 15 deadline for a draft and weeks after the transitional parliament approved a supposedly final version for a national vote -- has fostered a perception among many that the constitution will mean whatever politicians want it to mean."

Quick learners those Iraqis. I think they figured out that this is what Bush's version of democracy looks like. One expects those purple fingers won't be wagging so wildly this time.