Hollow Election
Held On
Bloody Sunday
By Dahr Jamail
31 January, 2005
Inter Press Service
BAGHDAD, Jan
30 (IPS) - An overnight rocket attack on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad
that killed two Americans and injured four others set the tone for the
election Sunday.
By the end of the
day at least 29 people had been killed in attacks on polling stations
and voters.
An hour after polling
stations opened at 7am, mortar blasts began echoing across the capital
city, at almost an attack a minute at times.
Most Iraqis stayed
home after resistance fighters threatened to wash the streets
with blood.
A suicide bomber
at a security checkpoint in Monsour district of western Baghdad killed
a policeman and wounded two others. A man wearing a belt of explosives
detonated himself at a voters queue in Sadr City in Baghdad, killing
himself and at least four others.
Many Iraqis who
had intended to vote stayed indoors as gunfire echoed around the downtown
area of Baghdad. Mortar attacks on polling stations continued through
the day.
Yesterday
a bicycle bomb killed someone near my house, said 32-year-old
Ahmed Mohammed. I never intended to vote in this illegitimate
election anyway, but if I had wanted to I would never go out in these
conditions.
With draconian security
measures in place, even some ambulances rushing to victims of bomb attacks
were turned back at security checkpoints.
Baghdad looks
like it's having a war, not elections, said Layla Abdul Rahman,
a high school English teacher. Our streets are filled with tanks
and soldiers and our bridges are closed. All we are hearing is bombings
all around us, and for the last two nights there have been many clashes
that last a long time. We shouldn't have had elections now because it's
just not practical with this horrible security.
The threats by the
resistance fighters followed by a string of attacks across Baghdad clearly
reduced voter turnout.
How can we
call this democracy when I am too afraid to leave my home, said
Baghdad resident Abdulla Hamid. Of course there will be low turnout
here with all these bombings.
A series of bombings
have been reported also in Hilla, Mosul, Kirkuk, Basra and Baquba. In
Samarra where a roadside bomb struck a U.S. patrol, there was no sign
either of voters or of the police on the streets, according to reports
from there.
Nobody will
vote in Samarra because of the security situation, Taha Husain,
head of Samarra's local governing council told reporters.
Interim U.S.. appointed
prime minister Ayad Allawi announced Saturday that martial law will
now be extended for another month. The hope of many Iraqis that the
elections will bring security and stability continue to fade.
Voter turnout in
the Kurdish controlled north of Iraq and the Shia dominated southern
region has been heavy, but most polling stations in the capital city
and central Iraq remained relatively empty.
Aside from security
reasons, many Iraqis chose not to vote because they question the legitimacy
of these elections.
They are wrong
on principle, the High Commission for Elections was appointed by Bremer
(former U.S. administrator L. Paul Bremer), so how can we have a legitimate
election under these circumstances, said Sabah Rahwani in the
Karrada district of Baghdad. This election only serves the interest
of the occupier, not Iraqis. This is only propaganda for Bush.
U.S. President George
W. Bush announced in his weekly radio address Saturday that as
democracy takes hold in Iraq, America's mission there will continue.
His administration has also recently announced that U.S. troops will
remain in Iraq at least until 2006.
The parliament elected
by the Sunday election will draft a new constitution for the country.
A referendum on that is scheduled for Oct. 15, followed by another election
Dec. 15.
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