Regarding Iraqi elections

I recently posted my dismay at the U.S. deciding it needs to set aside some seats for Sunnis in the Iraqi elections, because the Sunnis are going to boycott those elections. Juan Cole addresses the issue, supporting it as the only way out now.

I disagree. The way out now is out now. We are refusing to postpone the elections until Iraq is calm, because we don't want a calm Iraq electing its own officials. We are calling all the shots through direct command and our puppet Allawi, all the while giving lip service to the idea of Iraqi self-governance.

Of course, Juan Cole is an expert on the Middle East, and I am not.

Update 9:30 am:

Iraq's election body has rejected a suggestion in Washington it adjust the results of next month's vote to benefit the Sunni minority if low turnout in Sunni areas means Shi'ites have an exaggerated majority in the new
assembly.

Speaking of "unacceptable" interference, Electoral Commission spokesman Farid Ayar said: "Who wins, wins. That is the way it is. That is the way it will be in the election."

U.S. diplomats in Baghdad, at pains to keep their role in the election discreet, declined comment.

Swiss Info article