Albritton Live from Baghdad on Election Day

[TomClash]

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January 30, 2005
Election Day

BAGHDAD—Almost one hour since the polls opened here, I've only heard one faint boom, and it was far away. So far, so good, knock on wood. I'll be heading out shortly after we've had our security guys make an assessment of the safety situation.

<snip>

10:40:11 AM Just got back from the local voting station in my 'hood, Karada, which is a heavily Shi'a neighborhood. The polling took place in the Muhammad Baqr al-Hakim High School, named for the former leader of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq. The security for the neighborhood is being handled by Iraqi Police, New Iraqi Army and Badr/SCIRI militiamen. And—quelle surprise!—the list topped by Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, the current leader of SCIRI and the brother of Muhammad Baqr al-Hakim, is the favored list. Almost everyone is voting for that one in this area. But for all that, there were a lot of women, and everyone looked happier than I've seen them in months.

<snip>

11:32:34 AM Four suicide bombings, all in west Baghdad. Seven dead and several wounded. We can't get to them because the bridges are blocked off and west Baghdad is on the other side of the Tigris River.

12:22:58 PM Sixth suicide bomb kills six people at a polling center in Baghdad. Unsure on where it is. Some of our other staff are our on the streets right now, and I'll be heading out again when they get back. (We only have so much security.)

12:29:48 PM Interesting. I'm watching CNN International, and the shots of long lines and happy voters are almost all coming from Iraqi Kurdistan where the voters are motivated and the environment is (relatively) safe. The rub is that CNNi is not identifying the images as coming from Kurdistan; the only way I knew it was from up north was the single shot of someone waving a Kurdish flag. But if you don't know what the flag looks like (red, white and green bars with a yellow starburst in the center), as I suspect most Americans don't, you wouldn't know the context of these images. Shi'ites are also coming out in droves in the south. But Sunnis are staying home. I will be surprised if the Sunni vote hits double digits at this point.

<snip>

1:15:38 PM Nine suicide bombs in Baghdad alone, with at least 20 dead. A bomb went off near the home of the Justice Minister. There are a number of outgoing mortars from my neighborhood in the last 10 minutes.

http://www.back-to-iraq.com/archives/000858.php

[annabanana]

1. Thanks I've been looking for this kind of info this morning

No one is covering this.

[TomClash]

2. Me too :-)

It's hard to find.