Imagine being asked to vote in an election where two-thirds of the candidates were not identified. What sort of democracy could give you the right to vote, but not the right to know who you are voting for?

An Iraqi democracy. Or, more to the point, a US-directed Iraqi show democracy. Much as I'd like to think that January 30, 2005 was a milestone in the democratisation of Iraq, the fact is that it's a sham. Who knows whether it will lead to a better Iraq? It seems unlikely. Certainly not when candidates are afraid for their lives to identify themselves. Certainly not when the Sunni community declines to take part in elections. Certainly not when the US occupying forces demand that elections go ahead regardless.

The last time Iraqis went to the polls was, not fifty years ago as the corporate media would have you believe, but 15 October 2002. And on that occasion they at least knew the names of all the candidates. All three of them. Saddam Hussein was re-elected president with no opponents and 99% of the vote, and two vice-presidents were likewise elected unopposed.

At least, while we all knew that election was a joke, no one (except maybe for Saddam himself) believed otherwise.