Abstract

Iraq's Lost Election

The article presents an editorial regarding the elections in Iraq. In the run-up to the January 30, 2005, election in Iraq, the prospects for a fair and credible outcome have steadily diminished. As conditions deteriorated, it became harder for the U.S. President George W. Bush Administration to spin the upcoming poll to choose an Iraq National Assembly as a major step toward restoring security. George Casey, commander of coalition forces in Iraq, predicted more violence on election day and "for some time" thereafter, while a new U.S. intelligence estimate foresees the elections being followed by more violence and possible civil war. Iraq's largest mainstream Sunni Muslim party has already pulled out of the elections, saying that the violence plaguing areas north and west of Baghdad makes a free and fair vote impossible. For the sake of Iraq's future and the safety of our young men and women, the United States must begin an orderly withdrawal, coordinated with stepped-up U.S. and international economic assistance.