The Washington Post is reporting that the U.S. military has decided to put a halt to local elections and self-rule in over a dozen Iraqi cities. Instead they have installed handpicked administrators, many of whom are former Iraqi military leaders.

Iraqi generals, police colonels and people who had close ties to the Baath Party are now mayors of a dozen cities including Samarra, Najaf, Tikrit, Balad and Baqubah.

In Najaf last week, hundreds protested over the canceled elections. One banner read: “O America, where are promises of freedom, elections, and democracy?”