The LA Times Take On The Iraq Elections
These people are pathetic. Just two days after being handed their backside, yet again by Hugh Hewitt live on the radio, the Times decided to really put a spin on this story.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iraqelect15dec15,0,3730111.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Solemn Iraqis Begin to Vote
By Richard Boudreaux, Times Staff Writer
BAGHDAD — Iraqis walked through mostly silent streets this morning to begin voting in their country's most competitive election in decades, a U.S.-backed exercise that will produce the first full-term government here since the ouster of Saddam Hussein.The mood of early voters was solemn.
Some went to polling centers with their families, others alone. Iraqi soldiers and special police commandos guarded the centers, mostly schools, and frisked everyone entering. U.S. soldiers in armored vehicles patrolled the streets.
The title says it all: "Solemn" Iraqis. They are painting an air of fear and doom. The worst that has happened thus far are sporadic acts of violence. Nothing that is going to scare these people away. I cannot believe the Times would stoop this low even after the jubilation shared by a majority in Iraq over these elections. TEN Million are expected to vote today in their first free elections as a constitutional democracy. This is freedom; the ability to have a noticeable say in how your government is picked, and who will represent you. The Times misses this completely.
Virtually all civilian cars had been banned from the streets under strict security rules.
The voting for a new parliament started hours after rumors swept the capital that insurgents had poisoned the water supply. Warnings against drinking tap water were broadcast through the night over mosque loudspeakers, until the Health Ministry issued a televised statement saying the rumors were false.
Minutes after the polls opened, a large explosion rocked downtown Baghdad, and sirens could be heard in the U.S.-controlled Green Zone. Police said the blast apparently was caused by a mortar landing near the fortified government compound.
Again, more doom. The Times does eventually get around to what today is about.
That had little apparent effect on the voting. As the country's 6,280 polling centers opened at 7 a.m., people lined up to get paper ballots, checked off their preferred slate of candidates and dropped the sheets into boxes. They dipped their index fingers into purple ink to show they had voted.
"I prayed early in the morning and then I came to vote," said Khalil Waeli, 50, a retired government employee, after casting his ballot in central Baghdad. "This morning at 3 someone knocked on my door and told me not to drink the water. But I drank the water. I'm not afraid to drink, and I'm not afraid to vote."
Message to terrorists in Iraq: You guys are losers, and you will not win the day. These people are not afraid of your threats. However, YOU are quite afraid of the consequences of attempting to interfere with the election. You will have our men and women to contend with, and at the rate you guys keep losing people in fights with our military, I would say that your day does look rather dreary and depressing.
Campaigning concluded Wednesday without major bloodshed. Officials said two civilians and two policemen were killed Wednesday by insurgents' roadside bombs.
There were also signs Wednesday of the sectarian tensions that threaten Iraq's future: Shiite Muslims protested what they called a televised slur on their religious leaders, and rumors spread of forged ballots smuggled from Iran.
Hmm...I wonder what idiotic publication printed that rumor up yesterday morning on their front pages? It would not happen to be the New York Times, would it? This marks the second MSM story we have run across in the last 3 to 4 hours that have cited that bogus report. And, of course, it comes after the polls have opened. Nevermind the fact that the story was debunked in a matter of hours by Reuters.
In a televised speech Wednesday, President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, urged Iraq's 15 million voters to make election day "like a national wedding day, a day of national unity and of triumph over terrorism and forces hostile to democracy."
Voters in hospitals, barracks and prisons cast the first ballots Monday. On Tuesday, up to 2 million Iraqis living abroad began three days of voting.
American and Iraqi officials said they were expecting a higher participation rate than the 63% turnout for the October referendum. January's vote drew a 58% turnout.
Sunni parties, gathered mainly in three electoral blocs, are expected to make a strong showing. More than 1,000 Sunni clerics have issued a religious decree calling for their congregations to vote.
One would hope so. The three of us discussed this last night. The Asylum is predicting a 67%-71% turnout at the polls today. This is an extremely important election. This sets the tone for the next four years. And this time, the Sunnis do not wish to be left out. They know that to have a future in Iraq they have to participate, or risk being frozen out of the process completely. This was also an integral part of our strategy. There would be no Saddam Hussein to extend to them rights that were unfair. You want a say in how the nation is run, then get out and vote, or get out and run for office.
Thousands of supporters of Shiite Muslim religious parties seized on talk-show remarks by Fadel Rubaie, a Sunni Arab exile, to stage spirited marches in Baghdad, Najaf, Hillah, Basra and Karbala in defense of their clerical hierarchy, which they said had been maligned.
Rubaie told an Al Jazeera satellite TV talk show that the clergy had "favored the entry of American troops into Iraq" and should stop "conspiring against the resistance." He touched a nerve by criticizing Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani by name, calling him a "ghost" who issues edicts from seclusion.
The most powerful Shiite party, the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, swiftly denounced what it called an "attack on our sacred symbols" by Rubaie and Al Jazeera.
See, the US is not the only nation fed up with the terrorist propagandists at Al Jazeera. The Iraqis are pretty ticked at them, as well. Maybe that is why they do not have a headquarters in Iraq right now.
Point being is things are moving forward, and for the most part this is occurring without a hitch. That is, unless you count our own MSM that seems to paint everything in such bleak terms. Personally, like I stated previously, I am excited for the Iraqis. God bless them for their tenacity and resolute stance against the animlas that wish to drag them down into a warped theocratic tyranny like that of the Afghanistan of the past under the Taliban.
The Bunny ;)
These people are pathetic. Just two days after being handed their backside, yet again by Hugh Hewitt live on the radio, the Times decided to really put a spin on this story.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iraqelect15dec15,0,3730111.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Solemn Iraqis Begin to Vote
By Richard Boudreaux, Times Staff Writer
BAGHDAD — Iraqis walked through mostly silent streets this morning to begin voting in their country's most competitive election in decades, a U.S.-backed exercise that will produce the first full-term government here since the ouster of Saddam Hussein.The mood of early voters was solemn.
Some went to polling centers with their families, others alone. Iraqi soldiers and special police commandos guarded the centers, mostly schools, and frisked everyone entering. U.S. soldiers in armored vehicles patrolled the streets.
The title says it all: "Solemn" Iraqis. They are painting an air of fear and doom. The worst that has happened thus far are sporadic acts of violence. Nothing that is going to scare these people away. I cannot believe the Times would stoop this low even after the jubilation shared by a majority in Iraq over these elections. TEN Million are expected to vote today in their first free elections as a constitutional democracy. This is freedom; the ability to have a noticeable say in how your government is picked, and who will represent you. The Times misses this completely.
Virtually all civilian cars had been banned from the streets under strict security rules.
The voting for a new parliament started hours after rumors swept the capital that insurgents had poisoned the water supply. Warnings against drinking tap water were broadcast through the night over mosque loudspeakers, until the Health Ministry issued a televised statement saying the rumors were false.
Minutes after the polls opened, a large explosion rocked downtown Baghdad, and sirens could be heard in the U.S.-controlled Green Zone. Police said the blast apparently was caused by a mortar landing near the fortified government compound.
Again, more doom. The Times does eventually get around to what today is about.
That had little apparent effect on the voting. As the country's 6,280 polling centers opened at 7 a.m., people lined up to get paper ballots, checked off their preferred slate of candidates and dropped the sheets into boxes. They dipped their index fingers into purple ink to show they had voted.
"I prayed early in the morning and then I came to vote," said Khalil Waeli, 50, a retired government employee, after casting his ballot in central Baghdad. "This morning at 3 someone knocked on my door and told me not to drink the water. But I drank the water. I'm not afraid to drink, and I'm not afraid to vote."
Message to terrorists in Iraq: You guys are losers, and you will not win the day. These people are not afraid of your threats. However, YOU are quite afraid of the consequences of attempting to interfere with the election. You will have our men and women to contend with, and at the rate you guys keep losing people in fights with our military, I would say that your day does look rather dreary and depressing.
Campaigning concluded Wednesday without major bloodshed. Officials said two civilians and two policemen were killed Wednesday by insurgents' roadside bombs.
There were also signs Wednesday of the sectarian tensions that threaten Iraq's future: Shiite Muslims protested what they called a televised slur on their religious leaders, and rumors spread of forged ballots smuggled from Iran.
Hmm...I wonder what idiotic publication printed that rumor up yesterday morning on their front pages? It would not happen to be the New York Times, would it? This marks the second MSM story we have run across in the last 3 to 4 hours that have cited that bogus report. And, of course, it comes after the polls have opened. Nevermind the fact that the story was debunked in a matter of hours by Reuters.
In a televised speech Wednesday, President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, urged Iraq's 15 million voters to make election day "like a national wedding day, a day of national unity and of triumph over terrorism and forces hostile to democracy."
Voters in hospitals, barracks and prisons cast the first ballots Monday. On Tuesday, up to 2 million Iraqis living abroad began three days of voting.
American and Iraqi officials said they were expecting a higher participation rate than the 63% turnout for the October referendum. January's vote drew a 58% turnout.
Sunni parties, gathered mainly in three electoral blocs, are expected to make a strong showing. More than 1,000 Sunni clerics have issued a religious decree calling for their congregations to vote.
One would hope so. The three of us discussed this last night. The Asylum is predicting a 67%-71% turnout at the polls today. This is an extremely important election. This sets the tone for the next four years. And this time, the Sunnis do not wish to be left out. They know that to have a future in Iraq they have to participate, or risk being frozen out of the process completely. This was also an integral part of our strategy. There would be no Saddam Hussein to extend to them rights that were unfair. You want a say in how the nation is run, then get out and vote, or get out and run for office.
Thousands of supporters of Shiite Muslim religious parties seized on talk-show remarks by Fadel Rubaie, a Sunni Arab exile, to stage spirited marches in Baghdad, Najaf, Hillah, Basra and Karbala in defense of their clerical hierarchy, which they said had been maligned.
Rubaie told an Al Jazeera satellite TV talk show that the clergy had "favored the entry of American troops into Iraq" and should stop "conspiring against the resistance." He touched a nerve by criticizing Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani by name, calling him a "ghost" who issues edicts from seclusion.
The most powerful Shiite party, the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, swiftly denounced what it called an "attack on our sacred symbols" by Rubaie and Al Jazeera.
See, the US is not the only nation fed up with the terrorist propagandists at Al Jazeera. The Iraqis are pretty ticked at them, as well. Maybe that is why they do not have a headquarters in Iraq right now.
Point being is things are moving forward, and for the most part this is occurring without a hitch. That is, unless you count our own MSM that seems to paint everything in such bleak terms. Personally, like I stated previously, I am excited for the Iraqis. God bless them for their tenacity and resolute stance against the animlas that wish to drag them down into a warped theocratic tyranny like that of the Afghanistan of the past under the Taliban.
The Bunny ;)
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 2:23 AM
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