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The Foley, AL Onlooker published my letter in today's edition.
What will be result of election in Iraq?
Election '05:
On Sunday, Jan. 30, the recently "liberated" citizens of Iraq will hold a national election.
I guess you could stretch a point and call it an election.
At least it is assumed that some of the eligible voters will vote, or try to.
And they'll vote for political parties, or candidates, or something.
But they don't quite know who yet, because they don't know who is running.
They'll find out when they walk into the voting booth, or fortification, or something.
According to a recent Christian Science Monitor report there will be 111 political parties, or factions, or coalitions, or something on the ballot, "each with its own lengthy slate of candidates that can include between 12 and 275 names".
Whew. You sure can't say there will be a lack of choices. Some might even go so far as to say that the number of choices is a bit overwhelming.
For security reasons, there has been practically no campaigning. Oddly enough, not many candidates are anxious to stand up in a public place and orate. Iraqi voters have no knowledge of what the platforms of the various parties might be. The location of polling places will not be revealed until a week before the election. This is just a guess, but I'd say a week will be plenty of time for those who oppose this election to load their vehicles with explosives and show up bright and early when the polls open.
"I'd like to vote, but I'll be waiting to see if there are big attacks on the morning of the 30th,'' says Faiza Ibrahim, a Sunni woman who runs a small store in Baghdad."
"There may be some various locations where it is difficult for people to vote," said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher at a press conference Wednesday in what I would term a truly mind blowing example of understatement.
Well, our Commander-in-Chief has said there WILL be an election, no matter what, so there WILL, By George, be an election.
I really don't know if this is a "Darn (family newspaper) the torpedoes!" or an "Into the valley of death rode the six hundred." mentality. Possibly it falls into the "Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic" category.
It is now a sadly familiar scenario from an administration who can recall not one single mistake they ever made, nor change their minds when a course of action brings unforeseen and unwanted results.
And the death toll, on all sides, continues to mount.
Massey Lambard
Foley
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