NYT - Bickering Iraqis Strive to Build Voting Coalition

[maddezmom]

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Nov. 6 - With three months to go until Iraq's first democratic elections, established Shiite parties and powerful upstarts are feuding, prompting the leading Shiite cleric to try to pull them together to make sure that they clearly dominate the new government.

The cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, is determined to work out a power balance before the election and to keep rivalries from weakening the Shiites' position.

The two main religious Shiite parties in the interim Iraqi government have already banded together. But they face a formidable challenge to their prominence from an unlikely and possibly anti-American alliance that is looming between Ahmad Chalabi, the former exile and Pentagon favorite, and Moktada al-Sadr, the firebrand cleric who ignited two deadly uprisings against the Americans and the interim government.

After falling out with the Americans last spring, Mr. Chalabi has recast himself as a pious Shiite and is pursuing a coalition with Mr. Sadr, who has a zealous following. An anti-American platform would have widespread support.

much more: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/07/international/middleeast/07election.html?hp&ex=1099803600&en=ae75ced79d5dacb8&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[ogradda]

1. an anti-american platform would have widespread support

roflmao

[VegasWolf]

2. The puppets are fighting amoung themselves. n/t

[Zero Gravitas]

3. This will be interesting

break out the popcorn.

[Nicholas_J]

4. Yup

Everything is working towards an anti American coalition to seek taking power in the elections when it occurs. Sunni clerics are doing the same. moving to place religious fundamentalists on the ballots, and working hard to assure that Iraqi citizens eliminate the possibility of a secular government being in place. It is more than likely that fi\undamentalist of both sects of Islam will take as much as 80 percent of the election in Iraq, unless they are required to use the same machines that were used in the recentU.S. presidential elections. The Iraqis are very unlikely to calmly accept similar results. So we are looking at civil war, or a fundamentalist. anti Americn government who will ally themselves with the insurgents shortly after the elections end.