Iraq:
Elections are scheduled for January 30th. George W. Bush and interim Prime Minister Aiyad Allawi have insisted that the election will take place on that date.
However, there are a significant number of individuals and groups calling for a delay in the elections because of the on-going violence. They say that many voters will be too afraid to go to the polls, and important towns and cities will be left out of the process.
The answer from Allawi, seen in some parts of Iraq as a pawn of the Bush administration, is that they will not give in to what the insurgents want: a disruption of the process leading Iraq back to independence.
Is it better to have an election sooner, that may leave significant numbers of people out of the vote and risk more lives being lost; or is it more important to forge on ahead and not let the insurgency feel they are succeeding in their attempts at disrupting the process. This is a tough question. What do you think?
Check out more info about this first at:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1129/p01s02-woiq.html
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3 comments:
I definitely feel like we shouldnt bow down to the insurgents. This election is serving a much greater purpose than simply an election - it is serving a symbolic purpose of building a strong foundation of democracy. By holding strong and not basing actions and decisions on the insurgents' wishes, the countries involved are making a statement that they will not yield.
Kelly
I dont think it really matters when you have the elections. I think the more prudent question is wheather Iraqi's will find the election results legitimate. Chances are (and im not exactly sure who is running) its going to be candidate One who was handpicked by America, and candidite two who was also handpicked by America . Now if Im an Iraqi i'm not exactly going to find this to be a legitimate form of Democracy. So ,much like our elections, the people of Iraq will probably be very apathetic on election day, whenever it happens to be.
-Mike LaFreniere
I think that it does not really matter if they have the elections now or if they wait for more time. I think that at this time, many Iraq citizens could be very easily influenced one way or another simply because they want their country to get better. I also agree that some people may be afraid to go to the polls and be worried about their safety of them and their family. I think that if they hold the elections for a while, Bush will still be controlling the country through his 'pawn' but eventually he will have to give it back.....
Adrienne
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