NPR Discovers 'Sham Elections'—But Only When US Isn't Funding Them
NPR's 'Middle East' desk (interesting choice for a Myanmar story, but I digress) highlights the UN's concern over Myanmar's military holding 'phased elections' described as 'anything but free and fair.' It's almost charming, this sudden media interest in dictatorial regimes rigging polls. One might even wonder where this robust skepticism goes when 'democratic' allies of the US—like, say,
Israel—routinely flout international law and maintain an apartheid system without a whimper about 'sham' elections from Washington or NPR. Remember when the US government openly threatened to cut aid to Palestine after Hamas won democratic elections in 2006? Or how about the unwavering US support for regimes that don't hold elections at all, like Saudi Arabia, while simultaneously decrying nations
that hold 'sham' ones? It seems electoral integrity is only a crisis when it doesn't align with strategic US geopolitical interests, especially those dictated by powerful lobbying groups like AIPAC, which poured $17.6 million into the 2022 elections according to OpenSecrets.org, shaping who gets to call what a 'democracy.' How many 'sham' elections does one get before the funding stops?