Iraq Elections: Everybody is Ready to Cry Foul…………
“They are convinced that full Sunni participation at the polls will bring a new government to power, headed by Allawi or by another secular or a Sunni leader. They say they are not prepared to contemplate the alternative, a renewed mandate for the Shiite religious parties, be it Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's State of Law coalition or the Iraqi National Alliance. "Don't tell me that they will win. They will not win," said Khalil Ibrahim Rasheed, 42, who is a member of the local Sunni Awakening force, made up mostly of former insurgents who helped the United States drive Al Qaeda in Iraq-linked extremists out in 2007. "If it happens that they do, we will give victory to the one who deserves it by force. We are prepared to die for our religion and our country." Such talk may be bravado. In the battle for control of Baghdad's streets that raged in 2006 and '07, Sunnis lost…….”
Whoever loses will cry foul in Iraq- that is the Iraqi way. All the lists and alliances are already getting set to complain about fraud if they “lose”. Sunni groups, Shi’a groups, and especially secular groups- everybody except al-Maliki. One good sign is that there are alliances among parties of different sects now (Shi’a with Sunni with Turkman, etc).
Some Arab media are complaining of Iranian interference, some Shi’a Arab commentators are complaining about American interference and hinting at the role of foreign “Arab” money in the election.
Cheers
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