[SandRat]

Ohhhhhhh,.... this is gonna turn out nice!!!!

[DougJ]

Thanks for bringing this to our attention. This is just the sort of good news about Iraq that the MSM never reports. I hope that everyone here supports the Iraqis and their fledgeling democracy by wearing a purple finger on Thursday December 15. It's only a few days a way.

It is truly moving -- as well as exciting -- watching a country take baby steps towards the world of freedom and democracy. Freedom is on the march!

[Calpernia]

Iraqi forces have the lead in providing security for national elections Dec. 15, officials said here today. This is a huge job, military and embassy officials said on background. Some 230,000 Iraqi soldiers and police will provide security for more than 6,500 election sites and polling centers in the nation. The election will select members of the first permanent democratic government in Iraq's history. More than 3,800 people are running for office, officials said. They can run as individuals or as members of parties, and parties may be connected to larger coalitions.

Iraqi airwaves are filled with campaign ads, and many are quite sophisticated, a translator at the embassy said. Others are less so.

[freedom4me]

Here's a link to an AP story about the fact that the Sunnis have threatened Zarqawi and al Queda NOT to attack on election day. Here are a few excerpts:

Saddam Hussein loyalists who violently opposed January elections have made an about-face as Thursday's polls near, urging fellow Sunni Arabs to vote and warning al Qaeda militants not to attack.

"In a move unthinkable in the bloody run-up to the last election, guerrillas in the western insurgent heartland of Anbar province say they are even prepared to protect voting stations from fighters loyal to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of al Qaeda in Iraq."

"...election campaign posters dominate buildings in the rebel strongholds of Ramadi and nearby Falluja, where Sunnis staged a boycott or were too scared to vote last time around."

"We want to see a nationalist government that will have a balance of interests. So our Sunni brothers will be safe when they vote," said Falluja resident Ali Mahmoud, a former army officer and rocket specialist under Saddam's Baath party.

"Sunnis should vote to make political gains. We have sent leaflets telling al Qaeda that they will face us if they attack voters."

The shift is encouraging for Washington, which hopes to draw Sunni Arabs into peaceful politics in order to defuse the insurgency.


Quagmire, indeed!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051211/wl_nm/iraq_election_insurgents_dc_1