Reply #66: I was thinking more of U.S. propaganda

[daleo]

Something along the lines of the need for a "do-over" since the election is not turning out the way they want. Granted, they haven't been successful with Iraqis for the most part. But if he can get a sufficient number of Americans to agree that the election was undemocratic, then he can insist on continuing the occupation and ignoring the result of the election.

As you say, there is the problem of Iraqis hitting the street en masse and overwhelming the U.S./U.K. military forces by pure numbers. That would get very ugly for everyone.

Maybe he will just be forced to take the loss, call it a win, and get out. Then the propaganda machine would rev up to convince everyone that this was what was desired by Bush all along - the thousands of U.S. and allied deaths, hundreds of billions of dollars, and tens to hundreds of thousands of Iraqi deaths were all worth it, to overthrow Saddam and install a religious government in his stead. It would be a masterful bit of propaganda if it worked.