Quote:
Originally posted by Displaced Flames fan+Sep 23 2004, 04:08 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Displaced Flames fan @ Sep 23 2004, 04:08 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-FlamesAllTheWay@Sep 22 2004, 08:56 PM
The insurgents and terrorists are the one's that are really running Iraq at this point. They have the power to stop the elections, slow the economy down, etc...
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I'll wager a lot of money that they don't have the power to stop the elections. [/b][/quote]
In the New York Times, there is a story indicating the Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani, the elderly big cheese who wants elections ASAP, has asked the UN adviser to the election process to attend him as he thinks the #####es may be underrepresented in getting only 55% of seats.
He thinks the issue should be resolved or he may withhold his endorsement of the election. If he did that, it would effectively be a boycott but, again, he is a big fan of having an election.
The endorsement of this single individual is probably critical to having the elections.
Otherwise, the elections will probably happen as advertised in January. Many critics thought the transfer to an interim government wouldn't happen either but it did.
Pushing this along, no matter how haphazardly, is fairly critical.
Cowperson