Iraqi Elections to be by Mid-2004

[HFishbine]

Digest this. Talk amongst yourselves.

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is proposing elections in Iraq (news - web sites) in the first half of next year and the formation of a government before a constitution is written, as it seeks to speed up the shift of power the Iraqis.


Also, with President Bush (news - web sites)'s approval, L. Paul Bremer III, the chief American administrator for Iraq, will consult with the Iraqi Governing Council on the appointment of a special panel to oversee an accelerated transition to Iraqi rule, said a senior U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity.


The revised approach is a change in course for the Bush administration, which originally insisted on a long period of transition that involved the completion of a constitution before elections were held.


For months, the administration has insisted that Iraqi leaders write a constitution, then hold elections before power shifts from U.S. occupiers to Iraqis. But on Thursday afternoon, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites) said the Iraqi Governing Council has resisted that American timeline.


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=1&u=/ap/20031113/ap_on_re_mi_ea/us_iraq_60

[wryter2000]

1. Hmmm...

Unless it's a Muslim government, it'll fall apart within days. That isn't the sort of goverment the Murikan people thought they were buying with all their bombs.

[Loonman]

2. Risking civil war

If the Shi'ites aren't given a big chunk of power.



Shrub's adventure in Iraq was doomed from the outset.

[Walt Starr]

3. Cut and run

but like the war, they're shooting their wad early.

If they don't wait until October to cut and run, the fundamentalists will have a revolution and take total control of Iraq before the election guaranteeing a Democratic victory.