This is the second time I have complained to NPR about not explaining explicitly that the Bush administration and IGC would retain more influence (power) under the caucus system than if direct elections were conducted.
See Juan Cole, http://juancole.com/2004_01_01_juancole_archive.html#107446705150459806, for a thoughtful way to break this gridlock.
My message to NPR (All Things Considered) is below. I invite others to contact NPR at atc@npr.org.
NPR still skirts the issue that the Bush administration and the IGC are thwarting democracy in Iraq by advocating "caucuses" over direct elections. Ask the question, will the Bush administration and IGC have more influence over the Iraqi government if their caucus system is used rather than direct elections?
Also, the claim that voting rolls must be constructed is suspect. In many developing world countries and in Kosovo there have been elections with imperfect voter rolls. Typically an invisible ink is used to mark the voters' hands. You should interview people that have supervised these kinds of elections in other places and see if the barriers to conducting direct elections in Iraq are higher than other countries, like Cambodia, Kosovo and other places where the international community has supervised elections. Is the Bush administration and IGC just using the voting rolls issue as an excuse to block the direct elections they don't want?