Another entry in the “ain’t democracy in Iraq wonderful” dossier:

A senior Iraqi spy has accused the prime minister, Nour al-Maliki,
of handing out thousands of guns to tribal leaders in a bid to win
votes. The claim was made by Iraqi National Intelligence Service former
spokesman, Saad al-Alusi, a week beforeIraq‘s general election, in which allegations of vote buying and exorbitant handouts have become widespread.

Maliki,
who faces a bitterly contested final week of campaigning ahead of the7
March poll, has been photographed handing out guns to supporters in
southern Iraq, engraved with a personal message from his office.
However he denies that the delivery of weapons, along with cash
payments, were improper.

Alusi, who was the INIS spokesman until
he was asked to move to another ministry eight days ago, said some
8,000 guns were ordered from a Serbian supplier at the end of 2008 for
use by intelligence officers. However he claimed Maliki “denied our
contract at the last minute and made his own contract of 10,000
pistols, which he has used as election propaganda for himself and his
party.

Well, isn’t that special? I wonder if some of our wingers will follow al-Maliki’s example since they’re so enamored of Iraqi “democracy.” This could inspire Rick Perry to do likewise in Texas or perhaps it’s a way for the faltering candidacy of Kay Bailey Hutchison to get, uh, fired up. After all, vote buying has a long and glorious history in Texas.