By Patrick Poole
The elections in Iraq this past Saturday, where voters took to the polls in 14 of the 18 provinces to select ruling provincial councils, have been acknowledged as the most peaceful since Saddam Hussein was deposed by U.S. forces in 2003.
And yet Reuters reported on Monday that what had been one of the best success stories for U.S. troops in Iraq — the transition of Anbar province from al-Qaeda insurgent stronghold to the most peaceful province in the country — threatens to unravel and possibly plunge the country back into civil war as the Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP) faces charges by Anbar Awakening tribal leaders that it rigged the elections in Anbar to their favor.
The IIP is the Muslim Brotherhood affiliate in Iraq, ruling as part of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s governing coalition and currently holding 36 of the 41 seats on the Anbar council. While many of the Awakening leaders did not participate in the previous 2005 elections, they actively campaigned this time around, forming an Anbar tribes list of candidates. And yet when many of their supporters ventured to the polls this weekend, they discovered that their names were not on the voting registration lists. In an effort to head off any possible violence, a curfew has been instituted along with a ban on nighttime vehicle traffic. Read more ...
The elections in Iraq this past Saturday, where voters took to the polls in 14 of the 18 provinces to select ruling provincial councils, have been acknowledged as the most peaceful since Saddam Hussein was deposed by U.S. forces in 2003.
And yet Reuters reported on Monday that what had been one of the best success stories for U.S. troops in Iraq — the transition of Anbar province from al-Qaeda insurgent stronghold to the most peaceful province in the country — threatens to unravel and possibly plunge the country back into civil war as the Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP) faces charges by Anbar Awakening tribal leaders that it rigged the elections in Anbar to their favor.
The IIP is the Muslim Brotherhood affiliate in Iraq, ruling as part of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s governing coalition and currently holding 36 of the 41 seats on the Anbar council. While many of the Awakening leaders did not participate in the previous 2005 elections, they actively campaigned this time around, forming an Anbar tribes list of candidates. And yet when many of their supporters ventured to the polls this weekend, they discovered that their names were not on the voting registration lists. In an effort to head off any possible violence, a curfew has been instituted along with a ban on nighttime vehicle traffic. Read more ...
Source: Pajamas Media
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