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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Sunnis voting near Tikrit |
| 2005-01-30 |
| Many Iraqis living near Saddam Hussein's hometown said they will vote today because the ballot not violence will end Iraq's occupation by U.S.-led coalition troops. The small town of Alam, 10 miles northeast of Saddam's home city of Tikrit, is relatively quiet unlike other Sunni Muslim areas west and north of Baghdad that roil with militancy and fierce opposition to the national elections. The local leader of one of Iraq's largest clans here is bidding for a seat in the 275-member National Assembly that will govern the country and draft a permanent constitution. Mashaan al-Jbouri, who heads the 37-member Liberation and Reconciliation Front, has said the country can be freed from occupation only through peaceful means. Hasan Mohammed Khazaal, a 24-year-old university student, backed that notion. "We will have a new constitution and I can get rid of the occupiers through elections. This is the only way to evict the occupiers,' said Khazaal, who decorated his car with posters of al-Jbouri, the local chief of the Jbour clan. Al-Jbouri served as the governor of Mosul, Iraq's third largest city, for a few months after the fall of Saddam's regime in April 2003. He is now a member of the transitional National Council, a government oversight body. Maj. Gen. Suleiman Youssef Ahmad, a retired officer who served in Saddam's army, has gone house to house in Alam explaining to people what elections are and why they should vote. "I am not only going to vote. I am guiding the people how to do it,' he said. Another official, 50-year-old Brig. Gen. Mattar Saleh, said he was voting as a means to get foreign troops out of Iraq. "We are Iraqis who oppose sectarian division, and our aim is to liberate our country from occupation,' he said. "I can tell the government that I will elect to ask the occupiers to leave the country through peaceful means.' |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #6 The concept that the Occupier will just up and leave is not a scenario that the average iraqi or arab can get their mind around. That is not how politics is run in the Middle East. This idea that a vote process can determine the real outcome of a nation does not match reality. That Iraqis are prepared to go down this path is truly revolutionary. |
| Posted by: john 2005-01-30 1:07:59 PM |
| #5 Can you imagine if he talked to Americans and we told him we agree with you? You get it! You're welcome. BTW, if you get out of control again, we'll be back. |
| Posted by: anonymous2u 2005-01-30 11:53:25 AM |
| #4 "We are Iraqis who oppose sectarian division, and our aim is to liberate our country from occupation,’ he said. "I can tell the government that I will elect to ask the occupiers to leave the country through peaceful means.’ You go, General! That works for us too. |
| Posted by: 2b 2005-01-30 10:09:54 AM |
| #3 Raptor, please, most of these people have never experienced Democracy or real elections. |
| Posted by: Duke Nukem 2005-01-30 9:37:28 AM |
| #2 I'm suprised at they number of people who have little or no understanding of Democracy and how elections work? |
| Posted by: Raptor 2005-01-30 8:52:49 AM |
| #1 This story deserves the jaw-drop image. They, at least those interviewed in SunniLand, seem to get it. Stop attacking, participate in the elections, follow the rule of law - and the troops can leave them in peace. Of course the reporter didn't talk to those who don't get it, but for these people to have given their names, and a clan leader among them, is surprising - given that it's an AP story. On AP's site, this headline has apparently already dropped off the menu - one bomb, shooting, or hangnail somewhere and that would have to trump the good news, of course. I hope the Kurds came out in droves and achieve a near 100% turnout. Thx, Dan - nice "common sense" story. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-01-30 4:23:53 AM |