Lieberman was just on CNNI--says the Iraqis feel safe to vote

[lebkuchen]

and want to vote, and that the election should go on.

Let's see. Fallujah is extinct, Mosul is headed that way, Baghdad experiences earth-shaking bombings daily, its governing officials assasinated weekly...

If I were an Iraqi citizen, Senator Lieberman, frankly, I'd just as soon stay home rather than bother going to the polls, knowing that the person I was voting for would probably be "offed" before Inauguration Day. Why lose my life over a charade?

Senator, where do you get your information? Common logic would seem to refute it.

[liberal N proud]

1. Joe Lieberman, the next Zell Miller n/t

[jmatthan]

15. Next?

He is the Zell Miller twin!!

Jacob Matthan
Oulu, Finland

[GOPBasher]

2. Lieberman's lost his freeking mind if he thinks that.

I'm not a Lieberman basher, but this is a dumb-ass statement.

[forintegrity]

3. Another idiot.

where DO these people come from?

[kodi]

4. sure baby, so when's Joe signing up to be a poll watcher in Mosul?

fucking liar.

[earthside]

9. That's a good test.

How many Congresspersons and U.S. Senators and State Department diplomats are going to be in Iraq on January 30 to be poll watchers?

I read last week that international observers will station themselves in Jordan ... because they are so afraid of the violence!

So, indeed, that is a good test about just how legitimate this 'election' is going to be. Besides Lieberman as a poll watcher in Fallujah, I want to se Jebby in Mosul, DeLay in Ramada, Frist in Sadr City , etc. ...

[pdxmom]

5. I couldn't believe what I was hearing

I'm really disappointed to hear some of the things coming out of Lieberman's mouth. I can't figure out where he's coming from on a lot of issues any longer.

[mattclearing]

7. Any longer? He hasn't changed a bit. Still a Republican with a D.

eom

[AG78]

10. From here

http://www.fightingterror.org/members/index.cfm

A fine group. We must bow to them for protecting us.

[pdxmom]

21. His throwaway statements at the end of the interview

were what really got me. He was talking about keeping an open mind about today's news regarding the changes in the formula for determining Social Security benefits. Said he needed to see the details. See the details?? I'm not good with numbers, and even I can see that this would be a major cut. Maybe Lieberman needs to keep an open mind about which party he's really closer to.

[lebkuchen]

22. When has the Bush administration ever provided details?

The Bushy hallmark is the glaring lack of details, which is how we all get screwed in the end.

[MisterP]

30. like its first incarnation, which helped us defend ourselves from, uh,

Soviet armaments they fabricated out of thin air. Too bad Curtis LeMay is dead, otherwise he could join the CPD (and ride Liebermush like a horsie in the orgies to follow).

[MadHound]

6. Gee, and I was just listening to a report on NPR that stated

That a majority of Sunnis and many Shi-ites don't feel safe about voting at all. In fact I think that there have been something like four major parties pull out of the upcoming Iraqi election over security fears, stating, as one gentleman so eloquently put it ". . .you don't rush in to decorate your house while it is still on fire".

I think that the reason that Bushco is rushing headlong into elections is that because of all of the chaos and confusion, they can easily control the outcome of the election, and place their handpicked puppets into power. Bad move, we tried this in Vietnam, and such blatant power grabs only fueled the fire there more. It will do the same in Iraq.

[GoBlue]

8. Stick a fork in him. /nt

[Me.]

28. Perfect!

After the BFEE and the neos he should be the next to go. Or maybe he should be packaged off with the neos, after all I can't tell the diff between them and him.

[karlrschneider]

11. See Riverbend latest blog

http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/2005_01_01_riverbendblog_archive.html#110466627142368992

[lebkuchen]

19. "There are several problems. "

The first is the fact that, technically, we don't know the candidates. We know the principal heads of the lists but we don't know who exactly will be running. It really is confusing. They aren't making the lists public because they are afraid the candidates will be assassinated.

Another problem is the selling of ballots. We're getting our ballots through the people who give out the food rations in the varying areas. The whole family is registered with this person(s) and the ages of the varying family members are known. Many, many, many people are not going to vote. Some of those people are selling their voting cards for up to $400. The word on the street is that these ballots are being bought by people coming in from Iran. They will purchase the ballots, make false IDs (which is ridiculously easy these days) and vote for SCIRI or Daawa candidates. Sunnis are receiving their ballots although they don't intend to vote, just so that they won't be sold.

******************

What a joke.

[LynnTheDem]

12. And in today's headline news: Iraqi minister says poll may be delayed

http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=7532005

01/04/05 AP: Military says five Americans killed in Iraq attacks

A roadside bombing killed three soldiers today in Baghdad. The blast also wounded two soldiers, another roadside bombing north of Baghdad killed a soldier and wounded another. Also a Marine was killed in action in the western Anbar province

01/04/05 AP: Death Toll Rises To 10 In Iraqi Bombing

Iraqi police now say 10 people were killed when a truck packed with explosives blew up in western Baghdad. The attack, near an Iraqi National Guards barracks, wounded 60 people.

01/04/05 CENTCOM: THREE SOLDIERS KILLED, TWO WOUNDED IN IED ATTACK

Three Task Force Baghdad Soldiers were killed by an improvised explosive device at approximately 11 a.m. in north Baghdad. Two other Soldiers were wounded in the attack. The wounded Soldiers were evacuated to a military hospital.

01/04/05 AFP: Truck driver killed in Iraq

A TURKISH truck driver and Three Iraqi soldiers were killed in a bomb attack on their convoy in the city of Samarra. Also three national guardsmen were killed in a roadside bombing near the town of Baquba

01/04/05 CENTCOM: ONE 1ST ID SOLDIER KILLED, ONE WOUNDED IN IED ATTACK NEAR BALAD

One 1st Infantry Division Soldier was killed and another was wounded when anti-Iraqi forces detonated an improvised explosive device near Balad on Jan. 4 at about 11:34 a.m.

01/04/05 Sun-Sentinel: Haitian émigrés' son killed in Iraq

On Saturday, the LeBruns, who live in Kissimmee, learned Spc. Jeff LeBrun had been killed in Baghdad when his military vehicle struck an improvised explosive device. He was 21.

01/04/05 BBC: Three Britons die in Iraq attacks

Two of the victims worked for US security company Kroll, while the third worked for one of its clients, business consulting company BearingPoint. A fourth person, an American civilian, also died in the attack.

01/04/05 Centcom: ONE MARINE KILLED IN AL ANBAR PROVINCE

One Marine assigned to the I Marine Expeditionary Force was killed in action Tuesday, January 4, while conducting security and stabilization operations in the Al Anbar Province

01/04/05 iribnews: Bomb blast in Baghdad kills ten

truck bombing Tuesday outside a special Iraqi forces command post in western Baghdad killed 10 people...

01/04/05 Reuters:Baghdad Suicide Car Bomb Kills at Least Four

A suicide car bomb exploded on Tuesday at a police post near an entrance to the fortified Green Zone complex in Baghdad, killing at least four people, a policeman at the scene said

01/04/05 AP: Governor of Baghdad region assassinated

Gunmen assassinated the governor of Baghdad province and six of his bodyguards on Tuesday, and a suicide truck bomber killed 10 people at an Interior Ministry commando headquarters in western Baghdad


*****and it's only 9am.

[lebkuchen]

16. How many soldiers are Americans willing to let die

in exchange for the Iraqis having the right to vote in an election that they're too frightened to participate in?

[smbolisnch]

18. This all happened today?? nt

[lebkuchen]

20. looks like it

http://icasualties.org/oif/

[smbolisnch]

23. OMG. That's unbelievable.

Freedom is on the march. :grr:

[lebkuchen]

24. This month will be particularly bad

as will Feb/March, when another huge unit rotation takes place. Maybe a let up in April? :shrug:

[smbolisnch]

25. I won't be holding my breath.

:mad:

[LynnTheDem]

29. As of an hour ago that's all we had so far for today, yep.

Pretty quiet morning, so far.

[tuvor]

13. Screw that, they don't even feel safe enough to go to church

They actually felt safer under Saddam!

Fear Dims Christmas Eve in Baghdad
Many Iraqi Christians Avoid Mass as Guards, Barricades Protect Churches
By Jackie Spinner
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 25, 2004; Page A01

BAGHDAD, Dec. 24 -- It was the night before Christmas, and at the Virgin Mary Church of Palestine Street in the Iraqi capital, parishioners were making last-minute preparations for the holiday.

Steel barricades were erected in front of the main gate to keep potential car bombers from getting too close to the church, and several young men rehearsed how they would search strangers for hidden explosives.

The security director -- the church hired one of its parishioners for the job a few months ago -- said softly that he placed his hand over his heart every morning as he walked to work.

"We are frightened," he said, his blue eyes looking down at a desk covered with passages from the Bible and images of Mary, the mother of Jesus. "People are frightened to come to church."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A24875-2004Dec24?language=printer

[Miami Liberal]

14. Oh boy, here we go again

Joe, what are you getting from brown nosing this administration?

[readmylips]

17. Lieberman is first Israeli, then American...

He's Israel's #1 lobbyist. Bastard!

[Sparkly]

26. Unfortunately, the governor of Baghdad's province won't be voting

Since he was just assassinated.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&e=1&u=/ap/20050104/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

But it's perfectly safe. (Not.)

[0007]

27. Senator, where do you get your information?

SENATOR LIEBERSON; From the White House and the GOP and the Pentagon and the Generals running the war. Then I report to FAUX news for a fair and balanced update to the American people.

[murray hill farm]

31. my thoughts exactly

when i heard him this morning...where..and who told you that bunch of garbage. What percent votes in the usa these days! Does he think there is any chance anyone would vote here..if it meant there was a good chance of dying as a result of going out to vote...and especially knowing that the vote was a fraud. I dont think so, senator.