Comments on: Major Iraqi Parties Anxious over Possible Massive Ballot Fraud http://www.juancole.com/2010/02/major-iraqi-parties-anxious-over.html Thoughts on the Middle East, History and Religion Tue, 14 Feb 2012 00:17:06 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Walking Wounded http://www.juancole.com/2010/02/major-iraqi-parties-anxious-over.html#comment-2341 Walking Wounded Mon, 01 Mar 2010 07:36:50 +0000 http://www.juancole.com/?p=5005#comment-2341 Re election fixing:<br /><br />Nir Rosen posted a guest piece on Tom Ricks Best Defense blog last week. It was generally upbeat and downplayed Ricks drumbeat of Iraqi 'unravelling'. But his take on next weeks elections was pretty cynical, opining that Maliki engineering his own 're-election' is maybe the best to be hoped for, given the other players and risks.<br /><br />http://ricks.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/02/23/nir_rosen_stop_the_iraq_madness#commentspace<br /><br />Maliki certainly is hitting the 'rule of law' note, which would probably get my vote, if my family were there and at risk. Re election fixing:

Nir Rosen posted a guest piece on Tom Ricks Best Defense blog last week. It was generally upbeat and downplayed Ricks drumbeat of Iraqi 'unravelling'. But his take on next weeks elections was pretty cynical, opining that Maliki engineering his own 're-election' is maybe the best to be hoped for, given the other players and risks.

http://ricks.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/02/23/nir_rosen_stop_the_iraq_madness#commentspace

Maliki certainly is hitting the 'rule of law' note, which would probably get my vote, if my family were there and at risk.

]]> By: Anonymous http://www.juancole.com/2010/02/major-iraqi-parties-anxious-over.html#comment-2340 Anonymous Mon, 01 Mar 2010 06:49:07 +0000 http://www.juancole.com/?p=5005#comment-2340 The real battle will be after the election results. The fraud and Ba'thist claims are preparing the grounds for the losers to reject the results.<br /><br />The other battle will be the horse-trading to form a government. In January 2005, the Iran+US backed Shi'a-Kurdish alliance won nearly 80% of the votes (the destruction of Falluja ensured a Sunni boycott) but the negotiation to form an interim government, to serve for less than a year, took months and months and was only settled by Ms Rice literally ordering them to decide.<br /><br />The Americans put quarelling gangs in power to play divide-and-rule and pre-select the ruling elite to suit US interests. The quarelling and thuggish behavior are the obviuos consequences. The gangsters will eventually fight themselves into oblivion in the absence of foriegn control. The real battle will be after the election results. The fraud and Ba'thist claims are preparing the grounds for the losers to reject the results.

The other battle will be the horse-trading to form a government. In January 2005, the Iran+US backed Shi'a-Kurdish alliance won nearly 80% of the votes (the destruction of Falluja ensured a Sunni boycott) but the negotiation to form an interim government, to serve for less than a year, took months and months and was only settled by Ms Rice literally ordering them to decide.

The Americans put quarelling gangs in power to play divide-and-rule and pre-select the ruling elite to suit US interests. The quarelling and thuggish behavior are the obviuos consequences. The gangsters will eventually fight themselves into oblivion in the absence of foriegn control.

]]> By: Anonymous http://www.juancole.com/2010/02/major-iraqi-parties-anxious-over.html#comment-2337 Anonymous Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:35:31 +0000 http://www.juancole.com/?p=5005#comment-2337 Thanks Juan I was wondering why it is that the only person the makes any sense of this is "Higher Religious Authority His Eminence Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali al-Sistani, may God maintain his shadow. <br /><br />I truely hope he lives to be 900yrs old.<br />jo6pac Thanks Juan I was wondering why it is that the only person the makes any sense of this is "Higher Religious Authority His Eminence Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali al-Sistani, may God maintain his shadow.

I truely hope he lives to be 900yrs old.
jo6pac

]]> By: Anonymous http://www.juancole.com/2010/02/major-iraqi-parties-anxious-over.html#comment-2329 Anonymous Sun, 28 Feb 2010 16:54:17 +0000 http://www.juancole.com/?p=5005#comment-2329 "american democracy" always means fraud, if we have fraud in our elections here, how will Iraq have fair elections? it's a joke "american democracy" always means fraud, if we have fraud in our elections here, how will Iraq have fair elections? it's a joke

]]> By: إبن الصقلي http://www.juancole.com/2010/02/major-iraqi-parties-anxious-over.html#comment-2322 إبن الصقلي Sun, 28 Feb 2010 09:41:43 +0000 http://www.juancole.com/?p=5005#comment-2322 Since they're both mujtahids and maraji', I don't think "outrank" is the best or most accurate way of describing Sistani's position vis-a-vis Najafi, as the former ascended as Kho'i's successor of sorts due to support from his peers, including Najafi & Muhammad Ishaq Fayyad. Fayyad has also issued advice to "students of the Hawza" with regard to the elections. Since they're both mujtahids and maraji', I don't think "outrank" is the best or most accurate way of describing Sistani's position vis-a-vis Najafi, as the former ascended as Kho'i's successor of sorts due to support from his peers, including Najafi & Muhammad Ishaq Fayyad. Fayyad has also issued advice to "students of the Hawza" with regard to the elections.

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