Still Counting….And Re-Counting.

I received this from Diana Moon, if this is her name.  I find it to be an interesting compilation.  You can never be sure of the result of the "counting" in a Middle Eastern election until the "dust settles" but this is disturbing.

Pat Lang

"Iraqi bloggers react to the disaster. Whatever the differences among them, they are all appalled. They are reacting by screaming fraud. I have no way of knowing whether this is true, but they think it’s true.

In any case, we have succeeded in engineering pro-Iranian terrorists to power. Is anyone worried about this?"  Diana Moon

OMAR (IRAQ THE MODEL) – December 20

http://www.pajamasmedia.com/site/story/story.2005-12-20.4439066208

"Who’s Playing with Fire?

The election commission last night announced shocking preliminary results of the elections in 11 Iraqi provinces. The results "after counting 89% of the votes in Baghdad showed that the UIA [United Iraqi Alliance, the main religious Shiite coalition — ed.] won 1,403,901 votes, the Accord Front [also referred to as Iraqi Consensus Front; main religious Sunni Arab group

— ed.] won 451,782 while Allawi’s list [Iraqi List, secular — ed.] won 327,174", said a spokesman of the election commission.

These results when final will grant the UIA many more seats that what was expected, something that obviously upset the Accord Front. Four leaders from the Front are holding a press conference right now in Baghdad and they strongly rejected the announced results. Tariq al-Hashimi and Adnan al-Dulaimi, the two leaders of the Front are asking the election commission to "reconsider these results or redo the election in Baghdad… we ask our supporters to remain calm now but if our demands are not met we will have to make a different decision" said al-Hashimi who also accused the UIA of putting pressure on the commission to "manipulate the results for the benefit of UIA… the UIA are playing with fire!".

Al-Hashimi and al-Dulaimi, who looked really angry, spoke of many violations and incidents of fraud including the report we heard of some time ago about forged ballot papers coming from Iran and the cases in which boxes didn’t reach some Sunni regions.

The Front has also said that they will not approve the outcome of the results and will not recognize the parliament or the government if their objections are not considered or if the elections are not redone in Baghdad under international observation.

Statements that convey frank threats that can possibly lead serious consequence…

Will these words, spoken on December 18, 2005…

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/12/20051218-2.html

"This election will not mean the end of violence. But it is the beginning of something new: constitutional democracy at the heart of the Middle East. And this vote — 6,000 miles away, in a vital region of the world — means that America has an ally of growing strength in the fight against terror."

…be remembered by historians in the same way as these words, from May 1, 2003?

http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/10/28/mission.accomplished/

"MISSION ACCOMPLISHED"

UPDATED (Dec. 20, 2005 — 1:30PM Baghdad Time, 2:30AM Pacific)

The Iraqi list of Allawi gave its comments on the subject without supporting or rejecting what the Accord Front has said. It is reported that Allawi said he has "reservations on the announced results" which he considered "unpleasantly surprising, especially since the results weren’t expected to appear until another 10 days".

The Iraqi list has also accused the election commission of bias and favoring one particular list [the UIA] over the rest; the accusations aimed to the chief of the commission and another senior official.

Allawi added that only 24 hours before the commission made the latest announcement the Iraqi list received news from inside the commission itself assuring them that the list won 18-20% of the counted votes in Baghdad, which contradicts the figures that were announced last night giving Allawi only 14% of the votes.

Aadil al-Lami, from the electoral commission, told al-Arabiya TV that they will be investigating several "mishaps" that occurred during the December 15 election, but he avoided answering the question if the commission would consider redoing the election in Baghdad or any other province.

BREAKING (Dec. 20, 2005 — 3:00PM Baghdad Time, 6:00AM Pacific)

The election commission already changed its opinion about the results they announced yesterday.

Ferid Ayar, another senior official in the commission appeared in a press conference less than an hour ago and "corrected" the vote-count of the UIA by cutting away 100,000 votes from it. Now the UIA has nearly 1,303,000 instead of 1,403,000! This is still not final result, said Ayar.

On the other hand, Salih al-Mutlaq, a Sunni politician who leads the National Dialogue list, has also furiously rejected the results and accused the commission of omitting the votes that came to his list and giving them away to the UIA. He claimed that only in Babil, observers from his list who witnessed the local count were able to count around 60,000 votes for him while yesterday’s results gave him as low as 2,000 only.

Apparently we are facing a problem that cannot be solved overnight…

More reactions by bloggers:

THE IRAQI VOTE:

http://iraqivote.blogspot.com/2005/12/shattering-defeat-of-secularism-in.html

"The final results aren’t out yet, but things look pretty bad for those of us who would want to see an Iraq that is secular and democratic and not influenced by Iran. The United Iraqi Alliance, as reported here two days ago swept the votes across southern Iraq, so much so that Ahmad Chalabi may well walk away with zero seats. How this happened is for later, but for now, let’s talk about what happened. Ayad Allawi even by the most liberal of counts will not get more than 20 seats, that’s nowhere enough for a UIA-free coalition let alone a PM bid. Unconfirmed reports show that Allawi has left Iraq."

TALISMAN GATE (WITH PRELIMINARY RESULTS FROM EIGHT PROVINCES) http://talismangate.blogspot.com/2005/12/results-for-eight-provinces-including.html

"Personally, these numbers translate into no seats, not even compensatory ones, for either Ahmad Chalabi (who I worked with for seven years) or Mithal Al-Alusi (a close friend who I voted for in these elections and the previous ones). Having had the opportunity of a front-row seat during the INC years, I find it heartbreaking that Chalabi—without whom these elections would have never happened—be so crushed. Al-Alusi, whose bravery and fortitude for the cause of a secular and liberal Iraq, even after the murder of his two sons last February, was an inspiration. Even people like Abdel-Karim Al-Mohammadawi, the so-called ‘Prince of the Marshes,’ who bravely fought Saddam for 15 years under terrible odds, will walk away with nothing. To watch Iraq lose some of its best political talent at this critical time makes me very afraid.

IRAQ RISING

http://iraqrising.blogspot.com/2005/12/sadr-followers-win-majority-in-new.html

"Sadr followers win majority in new Iraqi parliament.

Congratulations America, welcome to the Islamic devided wartorn republic of Shit hole Iraq.. Watch your Petrol Gas pomp prices go up.. A bunch off idiots, the whole lot of ya….

Iraq Rising.. More like Iraq dying…Blogg closed."

UNCLAIMED TERRITORY

http://glenngreenwald.blogspot.com/2005/12/our-iraqi-allies-got-some-votes-too.html

"All of those wild celebrations over the Iraqi elections to which we were subjected last week…would be far more appropriate and understandable taking place in the governmental halls of Tehran."

[PERSONAL COMMENT]