If the Election Goes as Planned
Salon reporter Jill Carroll is in Baghdad, and reports on the fear of Iraqis. She also provides a succinct description of how things are supposed to proceed in the election:
David Enders provides this election primer as he reports from Baghdad for Mother Jones: There are 7,471 candidates from 111 parties for 275 slots in the national assembly and most of them have declined to provide their names to the public. Over 50 parties recently have dropped out due to the violence, but they remain on the ballot. There's another election for local councils.
If all goes as expected to plan, the Shi'ites, backed by the U.S., will win handily. It's leader, Allawi, has been dominating the airwaves to the exclusion of many other candidates. The minority Sunnis resent the U.S. occupation and support for the Shi'ites and are expected to stay home and forego voting.
< Iraqis Divided Over Elections | The Expat Vote > |