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Letter: Not sovereign, not democratic

Friday, July 2, 2004 | 4:21 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION

July 3 - 4, 2004

George Orwell was right; he was just 20 years off.

Monday, our government handed over sovereignty to the democratic government of Iraq and declared an end to the coalition's occupation of that country. There's a slight problem, however.

According to the American Heritage dictionary, sovereignty means that one exercises supreme, permanent authority. Democracy means government by the people or their elected representatives. Occupation means conquest or control of a nation by foreign armed forces.

Iraq's new government is neither sovereign nor democratic, and our forces are still occupying their territory. So, somewhere in the bowels of the White House, the Bush administration must be re-writing dictionaries as well as history books.

SONDRA COSGROVE

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