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In mY view

Designer democracy

Hasnat Abdul Hye
THESE are the days of designers. Everything and everyone aspiring to inspire awe and admiration has to have a designer's imprimatur. A brand name with logo lends respectability and is considered eligible, for whatever end one may have in mind. It has also become de regieur because without it there is no security from attacks by standard bearers of, well, standard. In becoming universal designers' brand names have the potential of becoming popular. No wonder, a market of counterfeit brand names is thriving where look-alike fakes masquerade for the real., The counterfeiters make quick bucks in every sense of the term, the customers are lulled into a sense of Dyonision stupor and the genuine brand name is woe-begone. Intellectual property right? Forget about it. That is passe.
So not much surprise (awe?) and shock should be betrayed at America's attempt to redesign and rebrand Iraq from dictatorship of the dire kind to democracy with secularism, to boot. Iraq was secular before the war but not democratic. Right? That is the big difference now. It is democracy plus. Only ingenious designers can craft such artefacts. To brush the harried memory, the Second World War was fought to make the world safe for democracy. It was a shame that Iraq lagged behind all these years and the hapless people were groaning under the yoke of dictatorship. Funny, too, that this outrageous absence was missed out so long by, well, the standard bearers. The knight in shining armour could no longer ignore the challenge thrown by the situation. The champion of democracy had to come charging forward with evangelical zeal to give the Iraqis a taste of freedom and democracy.
There is nothing wrong with these noble concepts and ideals. Like motherhood, national flag and favourite national dishes (apple pie, Yorkshire pudding, etc.) these are to be cherished beyond reason-
ing. For Iraqis accustomed to one-man dictatorship for such a long time it was a blessing that their benefactor woke up to their woes at long last. They are even prepared to forget that not so long ago their oppressor was the darling of the democratic west doing multibillion dollar business with oil and arms. But things change and people come to have different views when these suit their interests. Opportunism? Expedience? The cynics are incorrigible: Mercifully, history brushes them aside and moves on. It is written by the victors and arbiters, not their critics,
far less by the vanquished.
The Americans have used different pretexts and reasons to justify the war against Iraq. For the home constituency it has been touted as a part of the continuing war against terrorism. The outside world, excluding Iraq, was told that war was unavoidable if Iraq under Saddam was to be rid of weapons of mass destruction. As for the Iraqis, the message was in different form, the justification of the third kind: since you have been deprived of freedom and democracy so long we are going to bring them for you at your door step. After all we are the manufacturer and distributor of the brand name. Palming off the counterfeit ones is our business, too, just to pre-empt others. Destruction of national infrastructures, looting of archeological treasures, deaths and injuries to thousands of civilians are all a small price to pay for such a noble prize. Lest the historic significance is lost on Iraqis and is detracted from by critics, the war of aggression was given high-falutin and the romantic label of 'Operation Iraqi Freedom'. Never have doubts about the usefulness and seductive power of logo and slogans.
Freedom from dictatorship was the easiest part. It came by courtesy of B-52s, tomahawk missiles, cluster bombs and other awesome weapons of destruction. Don't use the term 'mass destruction' even if the scale of destruction and death is massive. It is a dirty word.
Remember? Having been freed by invaders who just invited themselves, the Iraqis are about to be administered democracy. By the invaders, who else? That was their ostensible mission and that is what they excel in, by their own account that is. You have to look at the way they elected their last President to realise what an epitome of democracy their country is. But don't be fooled by what they practice in the name of democracy. It is what they believe in and want others to believe that matter. And make no mistake that they believe in democracy. For them it is an article
of faith as strong and inviolable as the faith in God. So, don't look askance when they are unfolding their carefully drawn design for
operation Iraqi democracy. This is the second and the most important phase because on its success depends not only the wellbeing of Iraqis but also the long-term interests of their benefactors in the middle east and perhaps in the world. 'Operation Iraqi Democracy' may have been hatched in Washington but Iraqis will also have something in it. Call it collateral benefit!
It is both an advantage and a disadvantage that Iraqis have no inkling about democracy in practice. For a starter, anything can be passed off as being part of the
democratic project. Being helpless and at the receiving end, they will lap it all up. Besides, the presence of occupation army will take care of
recalcitrant elements and saboteurs. Any attack on democracy builders can be blamed on the remnants of the last regime, who may be foolishly scheming to stage a come back. Among other advantages are the presence of Iraqi exiles in America who have been plotting for years to democratise Iraq under the guidance of their benevolent hosts. They bring homegrown expertise in their areas of specialisation and will give an Iraqi face to the Democracy project. According to International Herald Tribune, 150 Iraqi exiles,
specialists in different fields, have
been mobilised and briefed by Pentagon for quite some time to prepare them for the task of introducing democracy, in collaboration with American 'liberators'. At first, they were organised under a platform called Forum for Democratic Iraq. It has now been changed into Iraqi Reconstruction and Re-development Council, most probably to give them a broader agenda while keeping the democratic enterprise in the bailiwick of the American civil administrator General Garner and his close advisers.
The appointment of a retired State Department Official, Paul Bremmer may indicate internecine wrangling but signifies no basic difference in respect of the policy to democratise Iraq as per American design. The 150 Iraqi exiles financed by Pentagon so long, will now be flown to Baghdad in US Air Force planes where they will live in a compound guarded by American troops. They will be working as employees of an American defence contractor to give the impression that Pentagon has got nothing much to do with them. How naive can one be! Be that as it may, the function of these 150 Iraqi exiles will be to give technical advice to the ministries during the transition period when Americans will be running the country to make it safe and ready for democracy. It is significant that these experienced Iraqi exiles will have no political role, which will be exclusively
played by Garner and Bremmer duo.
Iraqis will not be left out of the democratisation process during the interim period. It would look ridiculous to do so. After all, it is meant for them, whatever may be the ulterior motive. Already a conference has been held and eleven representatives have reportedly been selected representing ethnic and religious groups. They are expected to be the nucleus of the interim authority that the Americans hope to cobble together to give their military administration (euphemistically called 'civilian') an Iraqi face. Apart from the fact that they will have little political power, like the 150 exiles flown in, the selected representatives will hardly be a cohesive group representing united positions on various issues based on consensus. This is the crux of the problem of introducing designer democracy in Iraq by the Americans. Their demographic composition does not lend itself neatly into the democratic design of the designers.
The cardinal principle of democracy being 'one man, one vote', the Iraqis should be able to elect their representatives on the basis of demography. This will bring a majority of Shiites and minorities of Sunnis, Kurds and Christians in the central government in Baghdad. But this pristine type of democracy is not acceptable to the Americans because they are chary of giving prominence to the Shias on the ground of their suspected Irani connection. To reduce their influence in the democratic polity, that is on the anvil, the Americans have a plan to create three regions, cutting across ethnic lines. Instead of these regions being horizontal, coinciding with the present ethnic divisions, the new regions will run from north to south slicing Kurdish, Sunni and Shia populations. It is a shrewd move. But as a ploy it is too clever by half. This may temporarily facilitate the manipulation of one group against another and allow Americans to pursue the policy of divide and rule. But it will not produce stability and unity, based on consensus, so essential for enduring democracy. Designer democracy will succeed for a while but fail ultimately. Being counterfeit, it is a recipe for chaos and anarchy. Perhaps that is what is wanted by those looking for an excuse to stay for long.
Hasnat Abdul Hye is a former secretary, novelist and economist.
***The cardinal principle of democracy being 'one man, one vote', the Iraqis should be able to elect their representatives on the basis of demography. This will bring a majority of Shiites and minorities of Sunnis, Kurds and Christians in the central government in Baghdad. But this pristine type of democracy is not acceptable to the Americans because they are chary of giving prominence to the Shias on the ground of their suspected Irani connection.***