Contrary to many Western press reports which depicted the debate over the election date as polarising Iraq along sectarian lines -- with the majority of Shia pro-election, while the Sunnis are pro-delay -- Iraqi political activist Mussa Al-Husseini (Shia) told the Weekly that there were also large sections of the Shia population who are committed to boycotting the elections.
Al-Husseini, who describes himself as a secular Shia, went on to point out that there are large numbers of Iraqi Shia who will boycott the elections despite Sistani's calls to go to the polls,
because they believe that the whole process is merely a charade intended to bestow legitimacy on an illegitimate order."The real issue is not about a Sunni boycott versus Shia participation," Al- Husseini insisted. "It is about whether you are against the occupation and support the national resistance. And there are as many Shia as there are Sunnis in that camp."
http://why-war.com/news/2004/12/02/tovoteor.html "This is a statement issued and signed by 69 independent political groups, religious authorities ( marjyia ), tribal leaders and independent public figures," Mothana Hareth Al-Dari, spokesman for the influential Sunni Muslim Cleric's Association (MCA) said. The statement advocated an "absolute boycott" of the elections. No vote, it continued, "promoted by the occupation forces" can result in sovereignty and independence for the Iraqi people. It cited "vicious" attacks by the occupation on Iraqi cities like Najaf, Karbalaa, Samara, Mosul, Baghdad and "especially the genocidal war launched on Falluja", as among the reasons for boycotting the elections.
"The undersigned realise that...the results of the vote have already been decided in favour of those supporting the occupation." The signatories include Sunni, Shia, Christian, Turkman, Kurdish, Islamic and secular groups.
A Shia electoral list was announced last week, with the blessing of Iraq's senior Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani. Significantly, it did not include supporters of Al-Sadr. The 275 candidate list is expected to dominate the Iraqi parliament and has created the false impression that the boycott is essentially Sunni, while Iraq's Shia are happy to contest the vote.
"You must realise," cautioned Al-Ali, "that there is a big difference between a Shia list and the Shia list. Yes, there is an electoral list, but it doesn't represent all the Shia. Don't forget that the Al-Sadrist movement is influential in the Iraqi street and it is boycotting the elections." The elections' opponents, he stressed, include both Sunni and Shia.
"I speak now as a Shia," he told the Weekly, "and what they are doing is dividing the nationalist line. We will not hesitate to expose those who do that." And, according to the MCA's Al-Dhari, "one quarter of the election boycott front is Shia."
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2004/721/re7.htm Hey bush, you're not fooling anyone...except the rightwingnut rubes, and anyone can fool them about anything:
Bush says Iraq likely to want US troops after vote"I've heard the voices of the people that presumably will be in positions of responsibility after these elections, though you never know," Bush said in an interview with the newspaper. "But it seems that most of the leadership there understands that there will be a need for coalition troops at least until the Iraqis are able to fight."
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N28128390.htm "Most of"? You mean ALLAWI, bush. He's not "most of".
Then again, bush calls the lowest re-election percentage in decades "an overwhelming mandate".
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