News & Politics - Polls Open in Iraq, Blast Heard in Baghdad

mh67511 · 01-29-2005, 10:45 PM

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Polls Open in Iraq, Blast Heard in Baghdad

By HAMZA HENDAWI, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqis voted Sunday in their country's first free election in a half-century, defying threats of violence from insurgents determined to sabotage the historic balloting. As he cast his vote, President Ghazi al-Yawer called it Iraq (news - web sites)'s first step "toward joining the free world."

Soon after voting began, police reported an explosion near a polling station in western Baghdad, but there was no immediate word on casualties, while mortar fire and explosions were also heard in central Baghdad. Late Saturday, insurgents had rocketed the U.S. Embassy in downtown Baghdad late Saturday, killing two Americans.

Al-Yawer was among the first to cast his ballot, voting alongside his wife at election headquarters in the heavily fortified Green Zone in central Baghdad. As poll workers watched, he marked two ballots and dropped them into boxes, and then walked away with an Iraqi flag given to him by a poll worker.

"I'm very proud and happy this morning," al-Yawer told reporters. "I congratulate all the Iraqi people and call them to vote for Iraq."

The election is a major test of President Bush (news - web sites)'s goal of promoting democracy in the Middle East. If successful, it also could hasten the day when the United States brings home its 150,000 soldiers.

Voters nationwide began trickling past police guards and heavy security into schools and other buildings converted into polling centers. About 300,000 Iraqi and American troops are on the streets and on standby to protect voters.

A spokesman for Iraq's elections commission said all the nearly 5,200 polling stations nationwide were opening on schedule.

Turnout was expected to be low in the early hours. Most attacks occur in the morning, and many Iraqis were likely to wait to see whether rebels carry through with threats of violence.

There were no signs of voting in the Sunni Muslim stronghold cities — and rebel centers — of Fallujah and Ramadi, west of Baghdad. Sunni extremists, fearing victory by the Shiites, have called for a boycott, claiming no vote held under U.S. military occupation is legitimate.

A low Sunni turnout could undermine the new government and worsen the tensions among the country's ethnic, religious and cultural groups.

Shiite Muslims, estimated at 60 percent of Iraq's 26 million people, are expected to turn out in large numbers, encouraged by clerics who hope their community will gain power after generations of oppression by the Sunni minority.

At one voting center in the heavily Shiite Muslim city of Nasiriyah in the south, about 40 people lined up waiting to vote.

Final results will not be known for seven to 10 days, but a preliminary tally was expected late Sunday.

Baghdad's streets were deserted at dawn. The only activity in one area was an American Humvee racing down an empty road in response to a burst of gunfire.

In the northern city of Kirkuk, buses hired by city officials picked up people walking toward voting centers to get them there more quickly.

Like al-Yawer, Iraqis will mark two ballots: one to elect the National Assembly, the other for a provincial legislature.

There were no immediate reports of violence at the polls, but an explosion was heard at the U.S. military base in Kirkuk in the north. Scattered small arms fire was heard near another U.S. base near Baghdad's airport.

"So far the situation is excellent in all areas," said the chairman of Iraq's electoral commission, Abdul-Hussein Hendawi. "All the polling centers, their doors are open. So far we haven't heard about any problems."

An Internet posting claiming to be from an al-Qaida linked group, which had earlier threatened to kill voters, warned Iraqis on Sunday that

"Democracy and representative councils, brothers, is part of the religion of the infidels. ... Accepting them is ... renouncing Islam,"

Insurgents have vowed to disrupt the vote, and threatened death to any Iraqis who show up. The country was under almost complete lockdown — across Iraq, U.S. tanks and armored vehicles blocked roads and bridges to prevent insurgent movement and the airport was closed.

Iraqi National Guardsmen, wearing black ski masks to hide their faces, roamed through the capital in SUVs and pickup trucks, machine guns mounted. Police and Iraqi soldiers set up checkpoints and randomly searched cars.

Iraqi officials have predicted that up to eight million of 14 million voters — just over 57 percent — will turn out for Sunday's election. Voters in the Kurdish-run north also will select a regional parliament.

Iraqi expatriates in 14 countries cast absentee ballots on the second of three days of voting abroad, and officials said that by late Saturday, about two-thirds of those registered had voted so far. Iraqi leaders had been disappointed that less than a quarter of the estimated 1.2 million expatriate Iraqis eligible to vote worldwide registered to do so.

Government spokesman Thaer al-Naqeeb warned Iraqis to expect "sabotage operations" carried out by "the enemies of Iraq."

But he encouraged Iraqis to vote nonetheless. "It is important. It will preserve the integrity of Iraq," he said. "If you vote ... the terrorists will be defeated."

Despite the strict security and a nighttime curfew, guerrillas hit the U.S. Embassy compound in the Green Zone with a rocket Saturday evening, killing a Defense Department civilian and a Navy sailor and wounding four other Americans, according to State Department spokesman Noel Clay in Washington.

The Defense Department released grainy footage shot from an unmanned spy drone of what it said showed figures shooting a rocket and running away. It then showed U.S. soldiers entering a house where the suspected militants sought refuge, and said seven people were arrested.

Another American soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad. More than 40 American troops have been killed in the past three days.

Bush said in his weekly radio address from the White House that the election "will add to the momentum of democracy."

"The terrorists and those who benefited from the tyranny of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) know that free elections will expose the emptiness of their vision," he said.

A ticket endorsed by the country's leading Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, is expected to fare best among the 111 candidate lists. However, no faction is expected to win an outright majority, meaning possibly weeks of political deal-making before a new prime minister is chosen.

Throughout the Sunni heartland, there was little enthusiasm for the election.

"We will not vote because our houses have been destroyed," said Alaa Hussein of the Sunni city of Fallujah, which fell to a U.S. assault against insurgents in November. "We don't have electricity or water. The Iraqi National Guard fire at us 24 hours a day. So who will we vote for?"

By contrast, enthusiasm among Shiites was high.

"There's joy everywhere," said Mohammed Hussein, who lives in the Shiite holy city of Najaf.

Fighting raged late Saturday in the ethnically mixed northern city of Kirkuk between police and insurgents. The clashes occurred in a predominantly Sunni Arab neighborhood and lasted for about an hour, according to police Brig. Gen. Torhan Abdul-Rahman Youssef.

Also Saturday, a suicide bomber detonated an explosives belt in front of a police station in the largely Kurdish town of Khanaqin, 70 miles northeast of Baghdad. Eight people were killed.

"We have one life and one God," said Mohammed Omar, 35, repeating an Arabic expression underlining the futility of trying to cheat death. "Our hearts have died. We no longer fear anything. If death is written, then there's nothing that we can do."

I pray it doesn't get much worse and hope the election goes well. These damn insurgents don't you just want to...

TokyoNiGHTS · 01-29-2005, 10:51 PM

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Originally Posted by mh67511

I pray it doesn't get much worse and hope the election goes well. These damn insurgents don't you just want to...

I was hearing reports earlier today about how many Iraqi's were going out and stocking up on food and other materials because they weren't going to be leaving their house for several days because of the attacks that were planned. It seems like it could get really bad.

*Ledi* · 01-29-2005, 11:23 PM

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Originally Posted by TokyoNiGHTS

I was hearing reports earlier today about how many Iraqi's were going out and stocking up on food and other materials because they weren't going to be leaving their house for several days because of the attacks that were planned. It seems like it could get really bad.

I read about that.

I really hope things don't get worse.

No1important · 01-30-2005, 05:30 AM

This vote is still a farce. "W" will call it a success even though they will be lucky to have a 20% turnout. But they will claim otherwise.

Milt Palacio · 01-30-2005, 07:13 AM

I'm definitely hoping things go well today. Hopefully they can get at least 50% turnout and maybe catch some of the insurgents as well.

The bigger a success this election is, the quicker we can get our troops out of Iraq.

UnsilentMajorty · 01-30-2005, 08:34 AM

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Originally Posted by Milt Palacio

I'm definitely hoping things go well today. Hopefully they can get at least 50% turnout and maybe catch some of the insurgents as well.

The bigger a success this election is, the quicker we can get our troops out of Iraq.

Do you honestly believe that crap?

We are going to stay there FOREVER because of the oil reserves AND we'll probably be going into Iran shortly.

I hate to say it, but these elections ARE a farce and just a facade to make it look like Bush is doing some good to justify the invasion and now occupation.

Face it. There is nothing more we can do to sugar coat it. It's a mess and some measly votes are going to magically change the course of the country. Hell, a military invasion didn't. Well, actually it made things 10x worse. What makes you think a 20% voter turnout will?

WalkingOnSunshine · 01-30-2005, 09:35 AM

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Originally Posted by UnsilentMajorty

Do you honestly believe that crap?

We are going to stay there FOREVER because of the oil reserves AND we'll probably be going into Iran shortly.

I hate to say it, but these elections ARE a farce and just a facade to make it look like Bush is doing some good to justify the invasion and now occupation.

Face it. There is nothing more we can do to sugar coat it. It's a mess and some measly votes are going to magically change the course of the country. Hell, a military invasion didn't. Well, actually it made things 10x worse. What makes you think a 20% voter turnout will?

Have you been watching the news, today? It has been showing Iraqis voting and interviewing them afterwards. The voters are saying : "how proud they are to be able to do this" "how long they have been waiting for this day" "that casting their vote is worth the risk". That isn't the Bush adminstration telling them to say that. These people want to vote and this day is historic.

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Polls Close in Historic Iraqi Elections

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All around the country, Iraqis defied threats of violence and cast their votes. Iraq's Independent Electoral Commission (search) initially estimated that 72 percent of the country's eligible voters had turned out to cast their ballots but an official later said an estimated eight million Iraqis — or 60 percent of eligible voters — turned out to vote.

That seems like a pretty good turnout to me.

**Avatar** · 01-30-2005, 10:07 AM

Higher turn-out than the US elections, but the turn-out as a whole really doesn't matter much as you always knew that the Shi'ites and the Kurds would go vote. What matters is the Sunni turn-out ... if that's substantial, it shows that they believe in the democratic process, and then Iraq's going down the right path - if not, then they'll feel even more disenfranchised after the election, and then I won't rule out a civil war if and when the US leaves.

ceilirose · 01-30-2005, 10:10 AM

It's pretty much turning out as predicted. The Shi'a and Kurds came out in large numbers while the Sunni did not. In fact some polling places in Sunni areas didn't even open.

The 72% turnout should be taken with a grain of salt. The man who quoted that figure was unable to explain how that figure was arrived at:

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Claims of 72% turnout in Iraq
30/01/2005 16:03 - (SA)

Baghdad - An Iraqi election official claimed on Sunday that 72% of eligible Iraqi voters who had registered had cast ballots so far.

But the official later backtracked and offered conflicting, lower numbers for the turnout.

The official, Adel al-Lami of the Independent Electoral Commission, offered no overall figures of the actual number of Iraqis who have voted as of Sunday afternoon to back up the initial claim.

After being questioned by reporters, he offered lower and conflicting numbers of the percentage of eligible and registered voters who had cast ballots.

Earlier, the top US adviser to commission, Carlos Valenzuela, offered a much more cautious assessment, saying turnout appeared to be high in many areas, but that it was too early to know for sure.

There has been little sign of voters in some heavily Sunni areas, such as the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi, according to witnesses.

But Valenzuela said earlier that some voters had shown up in the two cities.

http://www.news24.com/News24/World/I...654779,00.html

The last count I heard was 34 dead and over 50 injured.

I read a few days ago that there were about 14 million Iraqis eligible to vote. It will be interesting to see the actual vote total in a few days. That will be more accurate.

Milt Palacio · 01-30-2005, 10:12 AM

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Originally Posted by UnsilentMajorty

Do you honestly believe that crap?

Well, I am just trying to be positive about it. I'm really hoping we pull out of Iraq in the next two years, but you're right that it's highly unlikely to happen.

This election is one of the first positive things I've seen come out of Iraq. I see it as a pretty good first step.

Think of it this way, the more successful this election is, the more pressure there will be one Bush and his cronies to get the troops out of Iraq. People are really going to start to question our occupation of Iraq if they can establish a stable government.

- annuscka - · 01-30-2005, 10:17 AM

The voter turnout is hardly going to end up at 72%, but it will probably still be pretty good, according to what I heard on the news just now. And that's really good, of course!

What worries me is that it seems to be like many have said, that the Sunnis haven't voted at all - I wonder what kind of result this all might give then, when a large group of people haven't participated at all?

But, it's good and historical - good people dared to go out and weren't too scared of the freaks blowing up the streets, whatever they thought they'd accomplish with that...

In Fair Verona · 01-30-2005, 12:18 PM

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Originally Posted by Milt Palacio

This election is one of the first positive things I've seen come out of Iraq. I see it as a pretty good first step.

Think of it this way, the more successful this election is, the more pressure there will be one Bush and his cronies to get the troops out of Iraq. People are really going to start to question our occupation of Iraq if they can establish a stable government.

I agree. I think this is the first positive thing I've even heard of in regards to Iraq. I really do respect all of the Iraqis who are voting, even if they are shi'te and kurds. You have to respect anybody who will go vote in such conditions. I hope there is a large sunni turn-out too. Even if the election is a farce, to them it isn't and it would be nice to see how many people turn out and support democracy, especially how many sunnis.

*Ledi* · 01-30-2005, 12:29 PM

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Originally Posted by WalkingOnSunshine

Have you been watching the news, today? It has been showing Iraqis voting and interviewing them afterwards. The voters are saying : "how proud they are to be able to do this" "how long they have been waiting for this day" "that casting their vote is worth the risk". That isn't the Bush adminstration telling them to say that. These people want to vote and this day is historic.

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Polls Close in Historic Iraqi Elections

That seems like a pretty good turnout to me.

you quoted Fox.......

WalkingOnSunshine · 01-30-2005, 12:32 PM

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Originally Posted by *Ledi*

you quoted Fox.......

and...?

*Ledi* · 01-30-2005, 12:32 PM

They're not exactly trust-worthy.


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