Iraq elections...questions...

Ok...all I hear from the Bushies...including Condi right now at her hearing...I keep hearing them talk about the elections in Iraq...

so I have some "what if's"...

What if the elections are a complete failure and Iraq goes further downhill and the violence escalates...more troops are killed...etc...?...then what...?

What if...and this is a big one...but what if the person who get's elected to power in Iraq...turns out to be a Saddam sympathizer and free's Saddam and returns him to power...could that happen...and if it did...how do you think most Americans will react...?

Will the rest of America see this war in Iraq a huge waste of time like so many of us Democrats did...?

and misspeaking regarding the Iraqi elections (big surprise). These elections are to elect an interim government that will be responsible for drawing up a constitution. Once that is done, then the actual government can be elected and a president or prime minister or whatever elected. I read somewhere that even most Iraqis think that the election is for a new leader of the country - they don't even know, themselves, what these elections are about! So if five guys whose names are never revealed are "elected", then they get to draft the constitution and hey, it was all legal and above board! I have no idea how this will all turn out, except that it will get worse and worse and worse. I see no end in sight...

but its being played up as a complete success.

First, there has never been a census taken in Iraq. Many Iraqi leaders have asked for one, but its just too dangerous to do one now. Without a census, its impossible to know who can vote, where people live, and what kind of local representation is appropriate.

Second, very few people know who is actually running in the election. People on the ballots do not want to release their names for fear of being targeted. So we have over 200 parties or slates of candidates, but no one really knows who is actually in them.

Third, almost none of the parties or slates are able to get their message out. Electricity is on for maybe one hour in six even in the cities. Political advertising is almost non-existant and nearly impossible for the average person to see or hear.

Finally, no one knows where the polling places will be. For safety reasons, they are not telling anyone where they can vote until election day. We already know that some of the larger cities with active resistance will have very few polling places, meaning many people will have a difficult time getting there and voting.

My prediction - turnout overall will be low due to fear and confusion. A few places will have decent turnouts, these will be trumpeted by this admin as 'huge successes'. Not much will change overall.

I never knew the whole story about what's really going on with the elections over there..."color me not surprised"...

It just gets to me that this misadministration keeps touting this election and playing it up like it's going to solve everything...but given this misadministrations track record...I don't see it going over very well...