Maybe during Thursday's presidential debate on foreign policy, President Bush could remind us all of his definition of democracy.

It's a whole lot fuzzier now after revelations that U.S. officials had considered a covert CIA operation to support candidates Washington favored in the Iraq elections scheduled for January. The idea, thankfully, was abandoned.

Good reason can be found to help certain Iraqi candidates and political parties. Iran is a worrisome neighbor that probably is shuttling assistance to favored Shiite parties in Iraq. Having Iraq become a clone of fundamentalist, terrorist-supporting Iran would be a global nightmare.

It would make sense for the Bush administration to turn to the United Nations for an intense election project. It also makes sense to seek assistance from independent organizations that helped establish elections in other infant democracies such as South Africa.

The objective should be to give all smaller political parties and candidates a chance to be heard so better-heeled (or better-armed) groups do not mute competition. That is vital if Iraqis of all backgrounds are to have confidence in a representative political process.

Whatever confidence they had must be plummeting after hearing CIA and elections in the same sentence. What were Bush officials doing even considering a route sure to erode trust among Iraqis still further?

The administration is trapped. Helping democracy flower in Iraq is one of the last remaining rationales President Bush has for going to war there. But the growing insurgency is strangling that bud.

U.S. officials are flip-flopping and lowering expectations daily of what will constitute a successful election in Iraq.

For Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, balloting in three-quarters or four-fifths of Iraq is better than no election at all. He wouldn't say that if he were talking about the U.S. election and those left out were in swing states Republicans need to win.

Skewing balloting is a practice in dictatorships, not in democracies.

This revelation is likely to stoke only more suspicion of the United States, and undercut U.S. hopes and blood spilled for a new Iraq.

Copyright 1996-2004 Knight Ridder.

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