BAGHDAD, Iraq - (KRT) - Prospects for a successful Iraqi parliamentary election Jan. 30 appeared all but hopeless Tuesday amid continuing violence, as insurgents gunned down the governor of Baghdad province in a brazen daylight attack and a fuel truck rigged with explosives killed at least eight members of an elite Iraqi commando force while wounding 58 people.

The continuing strife has widened the divide between the majority Shiite Muslim population, which would gain control of the country through Jan. 30 parliamentary elections, and Sunni Muslims, many of whom are planning to boycott the elections and a minority of whom have turned to violence.

Even should the elections proceed, they now hold little prospect of producing a government that would be broadly acceptable to Iraq's diverse ethnic groups.

While a number of politicians in and out of the interim Iraqi government - including the president, defense minister and ambassador to the United Nations - have said the security climate would make the elections difficult, U.S. officials and Shiite religious leaders are forging ahead.

Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, a secular Shiite who stands to lose in the election if religious clerics prevail, is growing increasingly anxious about the voting, scheduled for Jan. 30.

"Given any excuse, he'd bail," a senior administration official in Washington said of Allawi.

Even so, President Bush and his top advisers see no choice but to hold the election on schedule.

The senior official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because his remarks weren't authorized, said any delay now would mean even greater trouble for the United States because Iraq's Shiite majority and its spiritual leaders insist that the balloting proceed.

Neither U.S. troops nor Iraqi security forces have been able to halt or even slow the widespread murder and intimidation of prospective voters and candidates in Sunni areas, including Baghdad itself, as CIA officers in Iraq reported last month.

If the elections proceed, Sunni involvement probably would be minimal, raising the prospect that the minority Sunni population, which controlled Iraq for most of the past century, would resist the authority of any new government.

The major Sunni party has withdrawn its ticket of candidates. There are neither voter registration centers nor any registered voters in the Sunni strongholds of Fallujah and Ramadi. In several other major Sunni areas - Samarra, parts of the Diyala province and nearly all of Mosul - no voters have registered either.

There've been suggestions of guaranteeing Sunnis a set percentage of seats in the parliament or pushing the elections back to give parties more time to organize. But to delay the elections would risk the ire of Grand Ayatollah Ali al Husseini al-Sistani, the leading Shiite cleric. While he hasn't threatened violence, his word could lead to massive unrest amongst the Shiite population, thought to make up some 60 percent of Iraq.

Speaking in Thailand, Secretary of State Colin Powell said of Baghdad Gov. Ali al-Haidari's death: "It once again shows that there are these murderers and terrorists, former regime elements in Iraq, who don't want to see elections. They don't want the people of Iraq to choose new leaders. They want to go back to the past ... and that's not going to happen."

The campaign against top Iraqi politicians has continued for months, with Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi publicly calling for Allawi's execution. On Monday, a car bomb outside Allawi's party headquarters killed three Iraqis. A week before, a bomb targeted Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, a politician at the top of the main Shiite political ticket. It missed him but killed 15 others.

Al-Zarqawi's group claimed responsibility for Tuesday's ambush of al-Haidari. Al-Haidari and his staff were riding in three SUVs on their way to inspect a water treatment station when at least six cars of gunmen sped up, stopped the convoy in the middle of the road and opened fire, killing the governor and three of his bodyguards, according to an aide.

"The governor had been getting threats," said Nada Mohammed, a secretary in al-Haidari's office. "He did not pay attention to them or take more precaution. ... He said who's going to protect Iraq if everyone who received a threat quit?"

It was the highest-profile murder of an Iraqi politician since the president of the former governing council was killed last May.

Al-Haidari, a Shiite engineer in his late 40s, was instrumental in setting up Baghdad's government after the American-led invasion of Iraq. He helped form the city's advisory council and had the reputation of being a moderate politician who acted as an intermediary between American officials and the Iraqis he served.

"God bless him, he was indifferent; he didn't care about the threats," said Saeb al-Gailani, a longtime friend of al-Haidari who serves on the governate council. "We are technocrats, and we don't think we need many bodyguards around us."

The assassination seemed to shake Iraqi politicians.

Qassim Daoud, a minister of state for national security, paused when asked about the governor's death, and said, "I do not want to speak about that right now."

A woman who answered the phone for Interior Ministry spokesman Sabah Kadhim said that "because of what happened today, he is not taking calls."

Later in the morning, a fuel truck rigged with explosives slammed into a checkpoint outside the headquarters of the Interior Ministry's commando police force, killing at least eight commandos and two civilians, and wounding 58 bystanders and troops, according to a ministry official. The commando unit has been billed as the Iraqi government's best bet for insuring stability during elections.

It was the second attack on the facility during the past three months. The last one, in which a suicide bomber used an SUV, killed at least six and injured 20.

Reached by phone, the chief of the police station in the neighborhood where the commandos were killed said he wasn't sure what had happened.

"I have been sitting at home for a month because I was attacked by those dogs," Sabah Fahad said, referring to the insurgents. "It has become a time of assassinations."

The U.S. military reported that three soldiers were killed and two were wounded by a roadside bomb Tuesday in Baghdad. A bomb near Balad, north of Baghdad, killed another. Officials said that farther north, in the restive city of Mosul, insurgents tried to overrun a police station Monday. They were driven back by Iraqi security forces. It was the 13th such attack on a station there since Nov. 10.

During one of his last news conferences, al-Haidari spelled out his plans to improve Baghdad's infrastructure this year, saying insurgent attacks hindered many of his plans in 2004.

"They are affecting the performance of these" efforts, he said. "We are going to use force against those who want to stop these projects."

He added: "I hope the security situation will improve."

They will ahve the elections. Of that I have no doubt. The big issue as the article states is how the rest of the world, and in particular people here in the states, looks upon the elections credibility. Depending on the results you could have a lot of pissed off and/or dissappointed people both here and abroad.

Not a chance in hell.
More in todays headlines -
http://www.democracynow.org/article....5/01/05/152202

They will have the elections no matter how bad things get. It's how they actually go that will make the big difference in how Iraq plays out in the future.

They will have elections on January 30th.

That date is too important to Bush & Blair to change.

I heard a rumor that the elections were being moved to February 30th

Iraqies have to stand up and be heard. If they are going to be bowed by terrorists and other extremists then they don't deserve a vote or a say so in their gov't.

There has been a long line of people risking their lives, standing up for change in their gov't, including at the polls. Trying to boycott the election, and to use this as a future arguement saying the gov't isn't truly represenative of the people is bogus.

From the American Revolution, to the vote in Afganistan, normal everyday people have to stand up and be heard. If not, they deserve what they get.

In the case of Iraq, it will probably mean complete donination go gov't by Kurds and Shias.

Mike,

Please!

The Iraqis don't want this election.

The US of A does.

LOL

Nick, do you speak for all Iraqis? Or only the terrorists?

If Iraqis don't want elections, then why do the terrorists ( Iraqi and otherwise) continue to attack and slaughter innocent Iraqi civlians?

nick, there's a ton of iraqis that are stepping up to the plate to make this happen and losing thier life's for it. Sorta tells me that most DO want this to happen.

Who doesnt? crooks,terrorist, bathe party(thier REALLY pissed) and others that dont have skills to do anything else but strap on OR drive a bomb into a funeral service.

Will it happen this month? I think they will give it go no matter what, you can't let the thugs change it, once that happens everyone involved looses.

ummm once again , could some hard facts come into this patriotic dogma...

By Michael Hirsh
Newsweek
Updated: 4:43 p.m. ET June 16, 2004June 15 - The first survey of Iraqis sponsored by the U.S. Coalition Provisional Authority after the Abu Ghraib prison scandal shows that most say they would feel safer if Coalition forces left immediately, without even waiting for elections scheduled for next year. An overwhelming majority, about 80 percent, also say they have “no confidence” in either the U.S. civilian authorities or Coalition forces.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/commo...55E2703,00.html


Tide of US opinion turns
Roy Eccleston, Washington correspondent
December 23, 2004
AMERICANS are increasingly turning against the Iraq war, and the loss of so many troops in the latest attack a few days before Christmas will heighten concerns that George W.Bush has driven the country into a quagmire, with no exit strategy.

While the US President appears to interpret his November election victory as a vindication of his policies, an ABC/Washington Post poll released this week makes clear there is grave concern about his performance on Iraq.

That poll found 56 per cent, a new high, say the war is not worth fighting -- and 57 per cent disapprove of Bush's handling of the conflict.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml...2/ixportal.html

Poll shows most Americans now think war was a mistake
By Alec Russell in Washington
(Filed: 22/12/2004)

President George W Bush's post-election honeymoon came to an abrupt end yesterday as it emerged that, for the first time since last year's invasion, a clear majority of Americans believe the war in Iraq is a mistake.

Before the news broke of the devastating attack on a US military base in Mosul, a Washington Post/ABC News opinion poll found that 56 per cent of Americans thought that, given the cost in American lives, the war was "not worth fighting."

A slender majority think the invasion of Iraq has contributed to the future security of America, but 70 per cent believe that the 1,300 dead US soldiers are an "unacceptable price".

The growing disillusionment is not leading to pressure to pull out the 150,000 US troops in Iraq. Nearly 60 percent of Americans support keeping them there until "civil order is restored."

But the findings puncture the mood of invulnerability and triumphalism in Republican circles since Mr Bush's election victory last month.

Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary, also received a sober reminder of how his stock has slumped. The Washington Post poll found that barely a third of Americans approved of his job performance. Even among Republicans, only six out of ten polled want him to stay in his post.

******************************************



Trying to find more up to date figures on what the IRAQI'S themselves think..


its really hard to find out what THEY want.

Polls! uh, sorta like those exit polls on election day ;)


I would imagine if you could talk to most iraqis they want all the violence to end, to the farmer, carpenter, taxi driver etc... this prolly means that they want the US and it's allies out of there HOPING that will end the terrorist. I think we all know that's just a bunch of bull hockey. It'll never just end, theirs now a new employment opitunity there for those with no skills to make money any other way besides with a weapon of some sort.


Again, I dunno the answer, I do know that we have to see this though, can't pull a clinton and just pack our bags and come home, in way to deep:/


Semper Fi

Nick what does this have to do with elections in Iraq??

Nice try. Coming from a country that has never had any Revolutionary zeal, its easy to understand how Canadians don't understand these issues.

:lol:

Oh, and Nick - still waiting for an answer to this question.

Most terrorists attacks in Iraq are on Iraqi civilians not the US military. Why is this?

Fuck!!!


LOL

Why do I have to be the "RawAlex" character!!!!! ;-))))))

Dan you be Rawalex and I'll be Mike! ;-)))


I'm tryibng to rebuild an empire here!

ironic,huh?

;-))

:D

Nick, I will give you credit, you have one of the keenest senses of humor I have ever "met" online!!

The Iraq situation is very frustrating, but that is what the enemy wants. They want to fight a war of attrition hoping that we will eventually get tired. Our enemies cannot defeat us militarily, they just want to wear down out will.

Unfortunately, I fear they will be successful in the short term, which will ultimately lead to a longer war on terror.

You're new around here, aren't you?