Iraq embraces democracy

Knight Ridder:

Sadeq al Musawi has harsh words for Iraq's newly formed interim legislature, of which he's a member

"This assembly is not democracy. We have no real power. It is just political play for us to enjoy," said al Musawi, a member of the Constitutional Monarchy party. "It is a game - and not a good game."

The 100-member assembly, set up in August at a national political conference, won't hold its first policy session until Sunday. But many in Iraq already see it as little better than the widely despised U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council, which dissolved itself in June.

"They are two faces of the same coin," said Abdul Haleem Salem, a 26-year-old from Kut who was in Baghdad on a religious pilgrimage. "This assembly doesn't represent the Iraqi people, which makes it a failure."

That pretty much sums it up, doesn't it?

Why can't Kerry come out strong on this one? Why can't he provide some answers? Is he simply waiting for the debates, because you and I both know that this question is coming during one of them. I just hope he finds an answer before then.