I say "no" ...
There's no question the Shia will win an overwhelming majority ... the question is, will they see U.S. military presence as a help or a hindrance ...
bush will try to use the "democratic elections" as proof that the Iraqis want us there ... if Sistani and other Shia leaders insisted the U.S. leave, bush would be in a politically untenable position if he wanted to stay ... it would paint a big red "OCCUPIERS" label on the U.S. and would not be acceptable to the American people ... it would make any pretense of democracy in Iraq a sham so transparent that most Americans would see right through it ... with his credibility gone, bush would be more of a dead duck than a lame duck ... bush wouldn't have made the following statements if he didn't already know what a post-election government would do:
an article from Reuters included this:
"I've heard the voices of the people that presumably will be in positions of responsibility after these elections, though you never know," Bush said in an interview with the newspaper. "But it seems that most of the leadership there understands that there will be a need for coalition troops at least until the Iraqis are able to fight."
Asked whether the United States would pull its troops from Iraq (news - web sites) at the request of a new government, Bush reiterated a position expressed by other administration officials: "Yes, absolutely. This is a sovereign government - they're on their feet."the deal is that "the fix is in" ... the issue of continued U.S. military presence has already been negotiated ... bush and Sistani have already made a deal ... bush gets to continue his hideous escapade in Iraq and beyond ... but what's the deal with Sistani?? why is he willing to bargain with the devil?? i'd be interested in hearing opinions on this ...
i believe Sistani's "medical visit" to London last year was a sham ... i think that's when the deal was made ... perhaps Sistani's motivation was as simple as his knowing any elected government will not be able to defend itself from the "insurgency" ... but i suspect there may have been a partnership entered into to harvest Iraq's oil ... it could just be that Sistani agreed to some very lucrative contracts for certain U.S.-based corporations ... an he and his government get a cut of the action ... it buys him a revived oil industry, minus a big old Halliburton/Bechtel cut, and it buys him a security force to guard the rebuilding of the oil industry ... once again, American military forces are being used for the direct benefit of multi-national corporations ... "troops die; profits rise" ...
so, my conclusion is that the new Shia government will NOT kick the U.S. out ... Sistani and bush have hopped into bed with each other ... not a very pretty picture, eh ??
your thoughts ???