Iraqi Election
Here's a short article about the election from the L.A. Times via the Denver Post [January 29, 2005, "GIs deploy pre-vote precautions"]. They write, "U.S. and Iraqi forces blocked off roads, put up barriers at voting centers and made other final preparations Friday for this weekend's landmark elections, even as insurgents killed five U.S. soldiers in the capital and continued to target polling places. Great swaths of Baghdad and other cities appeared nearly deserted Friday as an earlier curfew went into effect. U.S. jets frequently streaked over the capital late Friday in an apparent show of force."
TalkLeft: "..there's pretty slim pickings if you're looking for blogs that don't sound like they are receiving an honorarium from the Bush Administration."
Raed in the Middle: "The current fake Iraqi elections are a fundamental part of the bush-administration's project in Iraq, the project that started fifteen years ago by old bush, and is under going by little bush."
Baghdad Burning: "I have to make this fast. We have about two hours of electricity- hopefully. The water came back yesterday evening. It's just a little drizzle but it's certainly better than nothing."
I think that both weblogs cited by TalkLeft are great sources of information about what is going on in Iraq. I'm still looking for election coverage less so than election opinion. Who are the candidates? What strategies are they employing? How are they getting the word out? I love some of the election pamphlets I've seen. Elections, keep your eye on the prize.
Washington Post: "In recent days, voters in Iraq have witnessed a political campaign as pitched and pronounced as any in the world. Parties and coalitions make promises. Candidates appeal to people's sense of nationalism, and to their religion. Voters' fears are exploited, and members of the most prominent electoral lists sling veiled criticism at each other. But this campaign is on television, not in the streets. Thanks to TalkLeft: for the link.
Bull Moose: "..the Moose contends that the democratic left should hope for a positive outcome in tomorrow's vote. Millions of brave Iraqis will risk their lives to vote. We must honor the democratic aspirations of Iraqis and the selfless courage of our troops despite our profound differences with the Bushies. Fascism and terrorism must not succeed in Iraq."
Daily Kos: "So, not all Shias are happy with the Election it seems."
Juan Cole: "Zogby: 9% of Sunnis will vote. Sunni Arabs who want the US out of Iraq now or very soon: 82%. Shiites who want the US out of Iraq now or very soon: 69%."
Zogby International: "Iraq's Sunday elections will be held against a backdrop of deep division between the country's ethnic groups, with an overwhelming majority of Sunni Arabs refusing to vote in the January 30 elections, a new Abu Dhabi TV/Zogby International poll finds. The poll also finds majorities of both Iraq[base ']s Shiites and Sunnis calling for a rapid withdrawal of U.S. forces from their soil. Zogby International polled 805 Iraqi adults from January 19 to 23, 2005 on behalf of television broadcaster Abu Dhabi TV. The margin of error is +/- 3.6 percentage points."
Colorado Luis: "...how many elections have you heard of where it is actually easier (not to mention safer) to vote as an expat than it is to vote within the home country?"
I had no idea how low we would set the bar and still call it an election. And the controversy in Colorado elections right now is over "voting centers" vs. tradional precincts.
Daily Kos: "Iraqi Insurgents bomb polling places; 7 U.S. soldiers killed."
Friends of Democracy: "The Sunni city of Mosul is having a much harder time than most getting ready for the election."
The National Review Online, quotes an American soldier, "When the sun rises, the people will speak." Thanks to Blogs for Bush for the link.
Update: 2020 Hindsight: "Jeff Jarvis has a roundup of all the blogsources to look to for news of the Iraqi elections tomorrow (or, for those of us in the Pacific time zone, beginning tonight). it[base ']s an impressive list."
Update: Friends of Democracy: "Friends of Democracy will air live Iraqi election coverage on C-SPAN Sunday, January 30, from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm Eastern Standard Time. The show will be professionally produced in Washington D.C.'s National Geographic studio, and will include a studio audience. The event will also be live-blogged here on this page."
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