The election will be the easy part compared to bringing the countries ethnic differences together after the election is all said in done. . .IMO. How do you all think we will deal w/ that??

Nope...
There have been conflicts there since before the 'Walls of Jericho came tumbling down', as the old spiritual goes.
And, we're talking nearly 4K years...maybe longer...

Well looks like the polls have closed and the Iraqi people have kicked the terrorists square in the teeth. As I predicted, despite the very real threat of death and dismemberment, their percentage, estimates between 60-75% are better than ours.

One thing that worries me though is that the voters seem to have this indelible blue or purple ink on their finger. These folks got more guts than a N.Carolina slaugterhouse since this marks them as supporters of the gov't making them a target for some asshole who can't read the handwriting on the wall.

Well, so far so good but it ain't over yet. Looks like our troops will find a way no matter how bad the civilian leadership has screwed the pooch.

Yeah, that's right. I give all credit to the troops - and the Iraqis!

I too give credit to our troops and to the Iraqi citizens who would not let threats of violence deter them from voting!

Now as to the 'voting booklets with candidates describing their positions' that would have been nice, but this is their first ever free election, and there is room for improvement, but this is an outstanding start, the sporadic violence notwithstanding.

Can't help but wonder if the same kind of threats and previous violence were the same in this country, what the voter turnout would be..

personally, I think we would see the highest voter turnout ever should that happen, but maybe that's just the optimist in me.

The optimist in you- or the compulsive, knuckledragging liar in you?

Well Amy lets just hope it never has to come to that. I think we would. . .at least I hope.

Has anybody seen the story developing about how analysts are scared that Iran is going to try to influence Iraq b/c of the common religious interests of the two countries. They are both heavily Shi'ite nations, and Iran is hoping that a radical politician would get elected to curve Iraq toward an Islamic Repulic like Iran.

Joe...if such a situation does happen...that will completely undo what has been attempted up to this day.
We already went through crap with the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iraq, and the Taliban in Afghanistan...we surte as hell don't need a third...
The very idea is scary!

It's hard to believe, but even CNN is getting teary-eyed over today's success in the Iraqi elections.

The elections in Iraq are not an end in themselves.

Instead, they are a beginning. Most voters did not know for whom they were voting; indeed many candidates did not use their own names on the ballots for fear of retaliation.

We must keep all of this in perspective.

Most importantly, we must keep our eyes on our most valuable assets in Iraq, our troops and their safety.

quote:

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Originally posted by TOW Gunner:
It's hard to believe, but even CNN is getting teary-eyed over today's success in the Iraqi elections.

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I noticed that myself..usually I have to switch between fox and cnn to get some perspective, but cnn has been doing an excellent job, imho. This is indeed an historic day for Iraq.

quote:

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Originally posted by Amvet91Alpha:

I noticed that myself..usually I have to switch between fox and cnn to get some perspective, but cnn has been doing an excellent job, imho. This is indeed an historic day for Iraq.

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Removing your head from your sixth point of contact will give you a great deal of perspective as well.

l

quote:

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Most voters did not know for whom they were voting; indeed many candidates did not use their own names on the ballots for fear of retaliation.

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I agree that we need to keep everything in perspective. Even if they didn't know who they were voting for, which they probably did a little more than it may sound, I think that the fact that they got to vote is incredible. Give it another couple years and if all goes as planned they will narrow the ballot down to 30 candadites.

If there was no 'candidate statement' to go with the name, then how were people to know who to vote for? guessing? by their party affiliation? word of mouth? hopefully that will be worked out in the next election. But overall it was very successful and an historic event.

Does anyone know how long the terms of office are for?

Here is a good site with Pics from the election

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/photo/world/G48865-2005Jan30.html?g