- 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.
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- BAGHDAD (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.*
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- By the end of the day at least 29 people had been killed
in attacks on polling stations and voters.
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- An hour after polling stations opened at 7am, mortar
blasts began echoing across the capital city, at almost an attack a minute
at times.
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- Most Iraqis stayed home after resistance fighters threatened
to "wash the streets with blood."
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- "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."
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- With draconian security measures in place, even some
ambulances rushing to victims of bomb attacks were turned back at security
checkpoints.
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- "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."
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- The threats by the resistance fighters followed by a
string of attacks across Baghdad clearly reduced voter turnout.
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- "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."
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- 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.
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- "Nobody will vote in Samarra because of the security
situation," Taha Husain, head of Samarra's local governing council
told reporters.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- Aside from security reasons, many Iraqis chose not to
vote because they question the legitimacy of these elections.
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- "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."
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- 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.
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- 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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-
- Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches
- http://dahrjamailiraq.com
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