Re: Thoughts on the election
The turnout numbers are going to have to be seriously revised. In Ramadi and Fallujah, turn out was less than 1/2 of 1% (about 15000 of an estimated 600,000). Which answers the question about the election being a farce.
Second, there were no candidates in this election, just lists. You had to vote for all of the 220 candidates on one list or all of them on another. The people of the country had NO input on the construction of any of the lists. Doesn't sound like a great election, but a step forward I guess. It was held because Bush needed something to crow about during his SOTU address on Wed.
Iraq is still a mess because: There is no police force in any of the major cities, outside of the US Military. Running water and electricity are infrequent at best (outside the Green zone) and non-existent for most. Iraqi citizens can't walk down the street without fearing for their lives. I would call that a mess.
For those of you interested, there were similar elections in Vietnam in 1967, which the US government hailed as a major step forward at that time, and a major victory over the terrorism of the VietCong. We know how that turned out.
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