Allawi: Some areas of Iraq may be too unsafe to vote; two bombings kill Ir

[leftchick]

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/011/world/Allawi_Some_areas_of_Iraq_may_:.shtml

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) Some areas of Iraq will probably be too unsafe to take part in the Jan. 30 elections, Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said Tuesday, and he promised to increase the size of the army in the face of a bloody insurgency, whose latest victims included 13 Iraqis killed by two bombings.

Allawi said the government had allocated $2.2 billion to expand the army from 100,000 to 150,000 troops and provide it with new weaponry. Iraq's armed forces are poorly trained and often under-equipped, making them an easy target for insurgents who want to scuttle the elections.

He acknowledged that some areas of Iraq likely would be too unsafe to participate in the landmark balloting for a constitutional assembly. The country's volatile Anbar province west of Baghdad and areas in the north around Mosul have seen little preparation for the vote.

''Hostile forces are trying to hamper this event and to inflict damage and harm on the march and the guarantee for the participation of all in the elections,'' Allawi said. ''Certainly, there will be some pockets that will not be able to participate in the elections for these reasons, but we think that it will not widespread.''

Allawi is a candidate in the election and has been increasingly visible in recent days. The news conference was his second in as many days, and he stood before several Iraqi flags and signs that read ''Security and Safety First.''

[wtmusic]

1. Nowadays it seems like the 'pockets'

are not filled with insurgents but with Allawi loyalists

[jukes]

2. see!

how sim our two countries are!

i guess the "insurgents" hate them for their freedoms!

[NeoConsSuck]

3. Some areas = North, South, East & West

[Ripley]

4. 'Security and Safety First" signs?

Sounds like it's a Corporation.

Democracy does not mean "some of the people get to vote some of the time" you overfed jackbooted spyjerk.

[NYC]

6. Some of the people vote some of the time?

That's the way it works here. (Or to rephrase it, some of the votes are counted some of the time.)

[daleo]

5. Bets that the unsafe areas won't vote for the U.S. picked candidate

So, they just won't hold the vote there. This will naturally strip away any slight legitimacy from the result that even the most optimistic might hoped for.

[The_Casual_Observer]

7. Allawi is a loathsome fat pig stooge for the chimp

I'll bet he doesn't spend much time walking the streets of Baghdad shaking hands. For that matter, the great liberator chimp doesn't dare do that either here or there.

[maddezmom]

8. democracy is on the march

if you happen to live in the correct area :eyes:

[saigon68]

9. Allawi--- STRIP MINING THE POCKETS OF US TAXPAYERS

I wonder how much graft and corruption this ex-CIA agent can accomplish.

But Judging from his Neocon Co-Criminals.

They will loot a lot of $$$$ AND CONVERT THEM TO THEIR OWN USE.

[Disturbed]

10. No matter...

if 50% of the Iraqis don't vote. Same here in Amerika.
No matter what the outcome Shrub Junta will declare it a success and
Iraq will be a Democracy that will be protected by the U.S. and it's allies. The Occupation will be declared over but 14 U.S. Military bases will remain to protect the Democratic Republik of Iraq.

[durablend]

11. Doesn't matter if 99% don't vote...

Election result has already been determined...just up to Diebold to "tabulate" the "votes"

[Massachusetts]

12. It really doesn't matter,

surely everyone in the Allawi administration has a cross hair trained on him/her.