Free Republic

Iraq's provincial elections have wrapped up without any reports of serious violence. Polls closed at 6 p.m. (10 a.m. EST) on Saturday — an hour later than planned — after millions of voters cast ballots for influential regional councils around most of Iraq. There were no reports of major violence. Iraqi authorities imposed a huge security operation around the country that included traffic bans in major cities and extensive checkpoints and surveillance posts. The U.S. military also was out in force but did not take a direct role in the election security.

You haven't heard much in the MSM because they've essentially stopped reporting anything from Iraq save a large bombing. Even when they do report about it, it's with a negative spin. They're pissed that George W. Bush had the nerve to order the surge and give Gen David Petraeus the tools needed to win. They wanted a loss and once it appeared we were victorious, all reporting stopped.

BAGHDAD, Jan. 30, 2009 – With coalition soldiers watching from a distance, Iraq’s provincial elections got off to a smooth start Jan. 28 as the country’s security forces, hospital patients and detainees had a chance to cast their ballots early. Army Col. Wilton Gorske, left, chief of communications with the 4th Infantry Division serving in Multinational Division Baghdad, gets a briefing from Army Maj. Peter Dargle, officer in charge of the division operations section’s Iraqi security forces cell, at the Combined Press Information Center in Baghdad’s International Zone during the first day of voting in the Iraqi provincial elections,...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 29, 2009 – Iraqis of all backgrounds are preparing to vote during their country’s first election since 2005, a senior Defense Department official said here today. An Iraqi Army colonel shows his purple index finger indicating that he voted during the provincial elections in Baghdad, Iraq, Jan. 28, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Douglas York  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. More than 15 million Iraqis are eligible to vote in the Jan. 31 provincial elections, which will select representatives for 440 council seats across the country’s 18 provinces, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell told Pentagon...

Members of the Iraqi National Police show off their newly inked fingers after voting in the provincial elections at the Bilal Al Habashi School in the Istaqlal Qada of northeastern Baghdad, Jan. 28, 2009. Photo by Scott Flenner, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs. ISTAQLAL — Members of the Iraqi Police and National Police kicked off the provincial elections by placing their vote at the Bilal Al Habashi School in Istaqlal Qada in northeast Baghdad, Jan 28. “This is a good step for Iraq and the people. They have free opinions to vote wherever they want and for any person they...

A truckload of Iraqi Policemen head to a local voting station in Baghdad's Adhamiyah district, Jan. 28, 2009, to cast their vote in the country's second election since the fall of Saddam Hussein. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jerry Saslav. CAMP VICTORY — During the 2005 provincial Iraqi elections, voters had their fingers stained with election ink to prevent them from voting twice. Some held their fingers up in pride as they took part in democracy; others hid their faces from cameras, afraid of becoming victims of sectarian violence. This year, ink or not, Iraqi Security Forces will make their...

BAGHDAD, Jan. 28, 2009 – Soldiers with the 4th Infantry Division’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team and embedded provincial reconstruction team members traveled yesterday to schools in the Adhamiyah, Istaqlal and Sadr City districts here to observe preparations for Iraqi provincial elections scheduled for Jan. 31. Iraqi National Police officers discuss provincial election preparations with U.S. soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team during a visit to the Bilal al-Habashi School in northeastern Baghdad’s Istaqlal neighborhood, Jan. 27, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Scott Flenner  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The provincial elections -- the first...

CAMP VICTORY, Iraq, Jan. 28, 2009 – During the 2005 provincial Iraqi elections, voters had their fingers stained with election ink to prevent them from voting twice. Iraqi army Pvt. Ryhad Ghani Kadhum shows off his ink-stained finger after voting in his country's second election since the end of Saddam Hussein's regime in Adhamiyah district, Baghdad, Jan. 28, 2009. The early voting day was designated for members of the Iraqi security forces, emergency personnel and displaced and disabled civilians to cast their vote. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jerry Saslav  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Some held their...

Iraq votes in key test of nation's stabilityPosted: 29 January 2009 1136 hrs Iraqi soldiers stand outside a polling center in Najaf, Iraq BAGHDAD: Millions of Iraqis vote on Saturday in an election seen as a gauge of how far the war-torn nation has progressed since a US-led invasion ousted Saddam Hussein from power almost six years ago. Iraq has in the past year seen a stark improvement in its security situation, but tens of thousands of police and soldiers will guard the country's first ballot since 2005, testing their ability to keep the peace. The stability of Iraq has...

This Saturday, about 15 million Iraqis will be voting in council races across most of the country's provinces. A nationwide election will follow at the end of 2009. These, together, could determine whether Iraq evolves into the Arab world's first representative democracy, where the majority respects the rights of the minority. The price for establishing a stable, safe and free Iraq, assuming one eventually emerges, has been staggering. For Americans, maybe $3 trillion; 4,000 soldiers killed and 30,000 wounded. Some 100,000 Iraqis have died - "only" 8,000 in 2008, compared to around 20,000 in 2007. Perhaps two million Iraqis became...

BAGHDAD — Thousands of soldiers, police officers, hospital patients and prisoners cast ballots on Wednesday as part of early voting in Iraq’s provincial elections. Overall, however, the voting appeared to go smoothly, Iraqi election officials said. About 615,000 people, most of them employed by Iraq’s security forces, were eligible to vote Wednesday, three days before Saturday’s election. Government officials said the early balloting would help ensure that security forces would be on duty to protect polling stations on Saturday, when about 14 million more Iraqis are eligible to vote. More than 14,000 candidates are running for 440 seats on provincial...

BAGHDAD (AFP) — Several hundred thousand Iraqis voted on Wednesday in the first stage of a landmark provincial election, the country's first ballot since 2005...

An Iraqi policeman stands guard outside a voter registration center in Mosul as US and Iraqi troops enter. When Iraqi Army Brigadier General Noor Aldeen visited his old secondary school in northern Mosul this week, he had little time to reminisce about placing first in spelling and arithmetic. His former school in the neighborhood of Al Nomaniya is an election registration site for upcoming regional elections in October, making it a popular place for a terrorist attack in the coming weeks. Almost all of the 57 registration sites in Iraq’s third-largest city are at primary and secondary schools --...

Voters from Southeast Rashid raise their hands in favor of a candidate during elections at Joint Security Station Doura in southern Baghdad, March 5. The elections were the first of their kind, providing the people with seven representatives to the Government of Iraq. Photo by Pfc. Nathaniel Smith, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division. BAGHDAD — In the United States, “Decision ‘08” is getting into full swing with political parties holding primaries and caucuses in states around the Nation. In southern Baghdad, the story is no different as the people of East Rashid held elections this week to determine...

Iraq's prime minister plans to reshuffle his cabinet just 100 days after it was formed because of frustrations with some ministers' performance and disloyalty among others, Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih told Reuters. snip. Some changes will involve the movement of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, several political sources said on Sunday. A key player in the government formed in May after months of wrangling, Sadr denies his Mehdi Army militia runs some of the sectarian death squads behind much recent violence. "There will be a government reshuffle. There will be some changes in a number of cabinet portfolios," Salih,...

Iraq's prime minister plans to reshuffle his cabinet just 100 days after it was formed because of frustrations with some ministers' performance and disloyalty among others, Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih told Reuters. In a weekend interview, he said Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki would make the changes soon in an "important signal" of commitment to efficiency in his national unity coalition and to his efforts to rally factions behind a reconciliation plan to avert civil war. Some changes will involve the movement of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, several political sources said on Sunday. A key player in the government...

BAGHDAD -- The completion of the national unity government Thursday in Iraq marks the starting point for repaying Iraqis' commitment to and thirst for democracy. We are at this juncture thanks to the bravery of the soldiers, police and citizens who have paid the highest price to give Iraq its freedom. Our national unity government will honor these sacrifices by pursuing an uncompromising agenda to deliver security and services to the Iraqi people and to combat rampant corruption. This government will build on the additional momentum gained from the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in order to defeat terrorism and...

8:33 A.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: The formation of a unity government in Iraq is a new day for the millions of Iraqis who want to live in freedom. And the formation of the unity government in Iraq begins a new chapter in our relationship with Iraq. This morning, I called the President, the Prime Minister and the Speaker to congratulate them on working together to form the unity government. I assured them that the United States will continue to assist the Iraqis in the formation of a free country, because I fully understand that a free Iraq will be an...

BAGHDAD, May 20, 2006 – In a watershed day in Iraqi history, the country's Parliament today approved 39 ministers and state secretaries that form the elected, representative government. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announces his new Cabinet in the Baghdad convention center May 20. Multinational Force Iraq photo   The Parliament confirmed Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's choices for the Iraqi national unity government. The 37-member Cabinet contains representatives from all major parties and all major ethnic and secular groups. Following the vote, the ministers took their oath of office during a session broadcast throughout Iraq. The Parliament met at the...

I congratulate Prime Minister Maliki on the formation of Iraq's new unity government. Iraqis now have a fully constitutional government, marking the end of a democratic transitional process in Iraq that has been both difficult and inspiring. This broadly representative unity government offers a new opportunity for progress in Iraq. The new government reflects Iraq's diversity and opens a new chapter in that country's history. Iraq's new leaders know the period ahead will be filled with great challenge. But they also know that they -- and their great country -- will not face them alone. The United States and freedom-loving...