| Author | Message | ||
     Dave Moderator Username: Dave Post Number: 5040 Registered: 4-1998  |
Wonder what this will look like in 5 years.  | ||
| Guy Supporter Username: Vandalay Post Number: 500 Registered: 8-2004 |
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| Dave Moderator Username: Dave Post Number: 5041 Registered: 4-1998 |
Turkey is allied with Israel (didn't Feith cut that deal?). Do you see that coming, too, or do you want to reconsider the comparison? Or maybe you meant the two nations are similar in that 83 percent of their population opposed our invasion? (wait, it's only about our democracy and business interests.... sorry, I forgot) | ||
| Dr. Winston O'Boogie Citizen Username: Casey Post Number: 989 Registered: 8-2003  |
Like everything else that has transpired in Iraq thus far, we're in a lose-lose situation. Postpone the elections and give in to the insurgents while disappointing all the Iraqis who are longing to cast a vote. OR, hold the elections on Jan. 30 and leave out as much as 40% of the country, leading many Iraqis to consider the result illegitimate. The only successful result would be 80-90% turnout, with the losers accepting defeat peacefully. Is that at all likely? | ||
| Dave Moderator Username: Dave Post Number: 5043 Registered: 4-1998 |
Would you accept any election results when you have no information about the candidates or their platforms? The people of Iraq are in a bad place. They've gone from a nation of middle class stability under a thug dictator to one where they have to worry about being ambushed on a ride to the airport nearly 2 years after a war began. | ||
| Dr. Winston O'Boogie Citizen Username: Casey Post Number: 991 Registered: 8-2003 |
I think all we need to consider is this: Who here in their right mind would volunteer to be a poll-watcher in Iraq? As far as I'm concerned, it would be a lot easier just to commit suicide in the U.S. and save yourself the long flight. | ||
| Guy Supporter Username: Vandalay Post Number: 501 Registered: 8-2004 |
Dave, Turkey is a Mulsim Republic made up of people with a group descriptions similar to those of Iraq. The difference is it is not an Arab country. It is not far fetched that in five years Iraq's political landscape could be similar to Turkey. AS far as voter turnout goes, has anyone checked out American voter turnout lately. | ||
| Dr. Winston O'Boogie Citizen Username: Casey Post Number: 992 Registered: 8-2003 |
that's an absurd comparison. Is there anyplace in the U.S. where people stay home from the polls because they're afraid for their lives while they stand in line? | ||
| notehead Supporter Username: Notehead Post Number: 1914 Registered: 5-2001  |
It's folly to compare turnout here versus there. American turnout suffers because of apathy, while Iraqi turnout is expected to suffer due to boycotting and lack of security. | ||
| Robert Livingston Citizen Username: Rob_livingston Post Number: 739 Registered: 7-2004 |
Guy: perhaps if the heavily-sypathetic-to-republican-causes Diebold company placed more voting machines in urban areas people in this country would turn out in greater numbers (the point would be moot though since said machines started the day off with at least 5,000 votes already favoring Bush). I guess Diebold won't have to rig the system in Iraq since the winner will be whomever Bush wants anyway. | ||
| Guy Supporter Username: Vandalay Post Number: 502 Registered: 8-2004 |
Boogie and Notey, then you would agree voter turnout is no measure of the legitimacy of an election. Robert , Save your outrage for the dead people who voted in Washington State. | ||
| notehead Supporter Username: Notehead Post Number: 1916 Registered: 5-2001 |
Not quite, Guy. I'm saying it has little relevance here, due to the reason for low turnout here. It is quite relevant in Iraq. NYT: "Lt. Gen. Thomas Metz, the commander of U.S. ground forces, said significant areas of 4 provinces are not secure enough for voting. Those provinces account for nearly half of Iraq's population." | ||
| Dr. Winston O'Boogie Citizen Username: Casey Post Number: 994 Registered: 8-2003 |
here, no. In Iraq where a large percentage of people WON'T BE ABLE to vote because they might DIE? Hell, yes. | ||
| Guy Supporter Username: Vandalay Post Number: 503 Registered: 8-2004 |
Let's see what the facts are after Jan 30?. Remember the disaster of mayhem and violence that was predicted in Afghanistan for the elections. It never happened. The Iraqi elections on Jan 30 is only the first step. Having it take place is the most important aspect of it. | ||
| Phenixrising Citizen Username: Phenixrising Post Number: 335 Registered: 9-2004 |
Guy, Pleeze! Are you blinded by the turmoil in Iraq? Iraq is in WORSE shape than Afghanistan at this point. Practically everyday there's some kind of suicide car bombing going into these elections. Just today, 14 more Iraqi's were killed after praying at a mosque. Geesh! | ||
| Robert Livingston Citizen Username: Rob_livingston Post Number: 743 Registered: 7-2004 |
The republicans are just too blind drunk from too much over-partying to fully appreciate what is happening in their occupied territory. From Bob Herbert's great piece in today's Times: "Even as President Bush was taking the oath of office and delivering his Inaugural Address beneath the clear, cold skies of Washington, the news wires were churning out stories about the tragic mayhem in Iraq. There is no end in sight to the carnage, which was unleashed nearly two years ago by President Bush's decision to launch this wholly unnecessary war, one of the worst presidential decisions in American history. "Incredibly, with more than 1,360 American troops dead and more than 10,000 wounded, and with scores of thousands of Iraqis dead and wounded, the president never once mentioned the word Iraq in his Inaugural Address." MORE "...President Bush and his equally tone-deaf supporters spent the past few days partying hard while Americans, Iraqis and others continued to suffer and die in the Iraq conflagration." | ||
| Guy Supporter Username: Vandalay Post Number: 504 Registered: 8-2004 |
Phenix , it will probably be very violent on election day. Hundreds of Iraqis will lose their lives in support of democracy. In the end millions will have cast votes and put in place the representatives who will ratify a constitution and set up future elections. I see terribble violence but I also see positive events happening. | ||
| Heybub Citizen Username: Heybub Post Number: 387 Registered: 2-2004  |
Guy , Liberals just want Iraq to fail because they hate Bush. They are the ones who put their blind hatred of Bush ahead of America succeeding. | ||
| Phenixrising Citizen Username: Phenixrising Post Number: 336 Registered: 9-2004 |
more killings just today… 18 Killed in Mosque, Wedding Party Bombs By BASSEM MROUE BAGHDAD, Iraq - A car bomb exploded outside a Shiite mosque Friday where worshippers were celebrating a major Muslim holiday, and a suicide bombers set off an explosives-packed ambulance at a Shiite wedding in attacks that killed at least 18 people and wounded dozens, police and hospital officials said. The attacks were the latest to target Shiites ahead of the Jan. 30 parliamentary and provincial elections. Friday's blast was the second outside a Shiite mosque in the capital this week and it came a day after a chief terror leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, berated Shiites in an Internet audio recording that appeared aimed at sowing division in the country. The two blasts took place as Sunnis and Shiites were marking one of Islam's most important holidays, Eid al-Adha, or Feast of Sacrifice. The feast coincides with the yearly pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. The car blew up outside the al-Taf mosque in southwestern Baghdad just as worshippers were leaving prayers in the building, a witness said. At least 14 people were killed and 40 others wounded, said an official at Baghdad's Yarmouk Hospital. South of Baghdad, a suicide bomber detonated a booby-trapped ambulance Friday at a Shiite wedding party in a village near Youssifiyah, killing at least four people and injuring 16, hospital officials said. Members of the Shiite Buamer tribe were celebrating a wedding when the ambulance drove up and exploded, according to Saadoun Abdullah of the general hospital in Mahmoudiya, where some of the victims were taken. It was unclear if the bride and groom were among the victims. The Buamer tribe has had tense relations with Sunni Muslim clans in the area, local residents say, and several of their members have been killed or kidnapped by Sunni insurgents. And the Iraqi's are expected to go out and vote? They can't even have a peaceful wedding without some bomb going off! | ||
| Phenixrising Citizen Username: Phenixrising Post Number: 337 Registered: 9-2004 |
Guy , Liberals just want Iraq to fail because they hate Bush. They are the ones who put their blind hatred of Bush ahead of America succeeding. Succeeding in what? You've got to kidding…Right? |
