Citing Safety, Iraqi Electoral Board Resigns -NYT (Anbar Province)

[Rose Siding]

In another significant blow to Iraq's upcoming elections, the entire 13-member electoral commission in the volatile province of Anbar, west of the capital, resigned after being threatened by insurgents, a regional newspaper reported Sunday.

Saad Abdul-Aziz Rawi, the head of the commission, told the newspaper that it was "impossible to hold elections" in the province, which is dominated by Sunni Muslims and where insurgent attacks already have prevented voter registration. The province includes the restive cities of Fallujah and Ramadi.

"They are kidding themselves," Rawi said about officials hopeful that the elections, set for Jan. 30, could take place in Anbar.

An Iraqi interviewed at the commission's office said the members had resigned and had gone into hiding.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60832-2005Jan9.html

[MichiganVote]

1. Don't tell George Bush, he doesn't want bad news

[fshrink]

2. Black Box Triad and a few consiglieri of the idiot

should do the trick. It worked perfect here.

[Just Me]

3. S of a B!!!! I guess they want their independence and freedom,...

,...from the neoCONimperialists!!!!

Hey, neocons,...you're hi-risk game (low-risk, actually, since it was American blood and treasure, Iraqi blood and treasure, that you USED AT YOUR POWER-FINGERTIPs) of selling off a toppled country,...isn't panning out,...is it,...you freakin' greedy, heartless scum of the earth!!!

:mad:

[karlrschneider]

4. Looks like things are going swimmingly over there, albeit a bit untidy...

am I nuts, or did we not predict this 2 years ago?
:eyes:

[Barrett808]

5. "All the people in the area knew about it"

Farhan Ali, 52, a shepherd from the village, said insurgents told him to clear out of an area on a busy dirt road from Abu Ghraib to Smailat because they had planted a bomb in a cardboard carton that was set to blow up next to the foot patrol. "All the people in the area knew about it," he said. "The insurgents asked us to stay out of the road."

Ali's account, if accurate, shows how entrenched insurgents have become in local communities, where they target U.S. forces in broad daylight.

"All of us were just watching," Ali said. "There were a bunch of kids standing away from the road expecting and watching to see an explosion."

Robert Fisk was right in his recent interview with Democracy Now -- the Iraq project, whatever it was, is over.

[NYC]

6. Considering the aura of danger surrounding the election,

why is the polling place to be at an elementary school? Isn't this knowingly putting the children at risk? Even if it is planned for the children to be elsewhere on January 30th, what if someone decides to blow up the polling place the day or week before?

...At an elementary school in Tikrit, about 90 miles north of Baghdad, a rocket landed behind a school, narrowly missing a building crowded with children taking exams. The Um Omara school is a designated polling place, residents said...

[theresistance]

7. Some other news...

Sunni party boycotts elections: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4127623.stm

Electoral staff in Mosul and Baiji quits and polling station blown up in another town: http://olympics.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7218196

Allawi part official assassinated: http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story.asp?StoryId=CqEc6ueidAxjHCs12Aw9Szw5Jzq

Entire electoral staff in Samarra quit to follow religious leaders: http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayArticle.asp?col=%C2%A7ion=focusoniraq&xfile=data/focusoniraq/2005/January/focusoniraq_January52.xml

[struggle4progress]

8. kick