Iraq Election Big Test for Bush Mission

[leftchick]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050123/ap_on_go_pr_wh/iraq_road_ahead&cid=544&ncid=1480


~snip~


The vote this coming Sunday to pick a 275-member National Assembly is an important test for Bush's mission to spread democracy through the Middle East.


Even if the elections take place with a minimum of violence, however, military and diplomatic headaches are ahead for the Bush administration and for the fledgling Iraqi government.


The national assembly has to take office, elect a prime minister and form a government and field a police force able to maintain security. Then it must write a constitution that will facilitate more elections, either in late 2005 or in 2006.


The United States must think about when it can begin to bring home some of the 150,000 troops now in Iraq and, ultimately, withdraw from the country.


"Simply having a vote by itself is relatively meaningless. The question is whether the people who are elected can do the job," said Anthony Cordesman, a military analyst and Iraq expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.


"Merely having people go to the polls can always be claimed to be a success. And I'm sure the administration will claim just that, while a good part of the Arab world will claim it's a failure," he said.

[illflem]

1. Thought the vote was on the 1st, next Tues, not Sunday

Feel sorry for anyone elected, they'll have a target on their back.

[cliss]

2. Whoever is elected will only be able to

assure their own survival from day to day. That's the best they will be able to accomplish.

As far as the voters, the word is out on the street that if you vote, you're dead. Many Iraqis have been interviewed, and they are saying they won't vote because it's too dangerous.

So the "Big Day" for Bush will be a little different from Nov. 2 here in the US.

They'll hype it, though. There will be trumpets blaring, Bush will appear on national TV, glowing and rambling about his success in Iraq. He'll brag that finally, at long last, he's changed the Middle East.

He might even institute an "Iraq Freedom Day" on January 30, so federal employees get to take the day off every year.

[UL_Approved]

3. Not looking ahead

Many groups are so worried about the election, that they have forgot the huge procedural items ahead in the near future. The vote will be the easy part, its sorry to say. The post-election issues will be even worse... :scared:

[htuttle]

4. The whole exercise is a PR snow job

Purely for domestic consumption in the US.

Any political structures created while under US occupation will probably NOT last past withdrawal of US troops -- assuming they are forced to leave someday.

[central scrutinizer]

5. freedom is on the march

<>