Which Way, L.A.?

Secular Democracy or Islamic Theocracy for Iraq?

The Bush administration says it wants to replace the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein with a secular democracy, but in the power vaccum of post-war Iraq it-s the Shi-ite religious fundamentalist forces that seem to have the political momentum. Donald Rumsfeld says to the idea of a few clerics running Iraq, "That isn-t going to happen." But what if the US sponsors free elections in Iraq and the fundamentalists win? How can the US instill democracy if it vets the possible choices of the Iraqi people? Guest host Marc Cooper explores the political future of post-Saddam Iraq and how to balance the forces of democracy and Islam with a former Middle East correspondent for the New York Times and Islamic specialists from the US and Turkey. (An extended version of this program was originally aired earlier today on To the Point.) Making News: Californians Breathing Dirty Nine California counties and six of the state's metropolitan areas were listed today as the worst polluted areas, according to a report by the American Lung Association. The ALA based its rankings on data from the Environmental Protection Agency. Brian Melley of Associated Press has details on the good, the bad and the dirty.