Controversial US Groups Operate Behind Scenes on Iraq Vote

[Judi Lynn]

Controversial US Groups Operate
Behind Scenes on Iraq Vote
By Lisa Ashkenaz Croke and Brian Dominick
NewStandard
December 13, 2004

Even as the White House decries the ominous prospect of Iranian influence on the upcoming Iraqi national elections, US-funded organizations with long records of manipulating foreign democracies in the direction of Washington's interests are quietly but deeply involved in essentially every aspect of the process.

"As should be clear, the electoral process will be an Iraqi process conducted by Iraqis for Iraqis," declared United Nations special envoy, Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, in a September 14 statement to the Security Council. "It cannot be anything else." But in actuality, influential, US-financed agencies describing themselves as "pro-democracy" but viewed by critics as decidedly anti-democratic, have their hands all over Iraq's transitional process, from the formation of political parties to monitoring the January 30 nationwide polls and possibly conducting exit polls that could be used to evaluate the fairness of the ballot-casting.

Two such groups -- the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) and the International Republican Institute (IRI) -- are part of a consortium of non-governmental organizations to which the United States has provided over $80 million for political and electoral activities in post-Saddam Iraq. Both groups publicly assert they are nonpartisan, but each has extremely close ties to its namesake American political party, and both are deeply partial to the perceived national interests of their home country, despite substantial involvement in the politics of numerous sovereign nations worldwide.

NDI is headed by former Secretary of State Madeline Albright, who took over the chair from former president Jimmy Carter. Republican Senator John McCain chairs IRI. Both groups have highly controversial reputations and are described throughout much of the world as either helpful, meddlesome, or downright subversive, depending on who you ask. In some places their work has earned praise from independent grassroots democracy advocates, but in many Third World republics, both groups have been tied to alleged covert plans to install US-favored governments.
(snip/...)

http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/election/2004/1213usmeddling.htm

[bin.dare]

1. mods relocated me with this post yesterday but before...

they do it to you here is an article from CounterPunch:

http://www.counterpunch.org/lindorff12142004.html

Time to Sack the Entire Leadership
DNC Meddling in the Ukraine Elections
By DAVE LINDORFF

[Megahurtz]

2. International Republican Institute???

here comes world domination via the Bushies.

[annabanana]

3. I have heard of this outfit before

there's fingers in plenty pies..