Iraq Votes

[DevilDog]

Well in an 1hour or so Iraqies get to vote. Its a great thing to see all of them having the chance to vote for who they want, all the other times it was only Saddam, it was where the paper had his name and it had yes or no, if you voted yes you lived and vote no you die, so its great seeing them vote is some what of freedom, since there are insurgents trying to stop the voting. .

يمكن اليوم أحضرت ك بلد سلام May today bring your country peace.
شهر ماي إلهة مع كلّ شخص في العراق May God be with everyone in Iraq.

Dont know if the Arabic writing is correct.

-Nick Rose

[begintowonder]

yeah, I hope that none of the insurgents or whatever attack or anything, Ive been on the edge of my seat lately with all of this shit in Iraq...one of my good friends is over there right now, and he's in the green zone, its a scary thought to read some of his emails...its a hell of alot different from a first hand account to what we see and/or read on the news

[DevilDog]

Is your friend I soldier or a civilian? I hope he comes home soon and safe, same for all the Service Men and Women over there.

-Nick Rose

[wannabepilot777]

NBC reports blasts in Iraq as voting begins. I am sure more news will soon be added to the site. Sad, but at least they are voting.

[begintowonder]

Is your friend I soldier or a civilian? I hope he comes home soon and safe, same for all the Service Men and Women over there.

-Nick Rose

My friend is a civilizian working for the URS Corp building security and justice buildings

[babypurin]

More updates:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=2&u=/ap/20050130/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_iraq

[chrisburns]

Higher then expected turnout CNN is reporting, thats super! 25 dead, but guess what, even though they killed 25, the terrorist already lost with a higher then expected turnout!

[herpa2003]

Interesting article in todays NYT featuring troops from none other than Fort Drum...


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/30/international/middleeast/30voices.html?oref=regi




AGHDAD, Iraq, Jan. 28 - Col. Mark A. Milley picked his way through open sewage and ankle-deep mud that stuck to his boots like sand-colored glue as he led a manhunt through the Abu Ghraib slum, his target the assassin of an Iraqi security officer.

The mission, punctuated by random small-arms fire from a housing block, ended with Colonel Milley getting neither his man nor annoyed.

Meeting next with the police general for Baghdad west of the Tigris River, the colonel was told that the Iraqi police were threatening to boycott duty as election sentries on Sunday if they did not get more automatic weapons. Colonel Milley calmly said that he had been pressing the American military and the Iraqi Interior Ministry for the weapons.

In fact, across a day of patrols through one of Baghdad's most threatening sectors, Colonel Milley raised his voice only once, when an jobless father of three said he was too fearful to go to the polls. "I traveled 7,000 miles from Fort Drum, N.Y., so you could vote!" he said at a volume just below that of approaching thunder. "So you better get out and vote. Show some courage."

Colonel Milley told the Lebanese-American interpreter for the 10th Mountain Division's Second Brigade, which he commands: "Translate that. Translate every word. And tell the rest of these people, too."

For an American military that already has lost more than 1,000 lives to hostile action in Iraq, guaranteeing the election on Sunday offers the clearest, most precise mission since President Bush commanded the military to drive straight for Baghdad almost two years ago. Since then, American forces have executed a complex set of orders to battle home-grown insurgents and shadowy attackers, help rebuild Iraq's economy and train a new army, all incremental projects that will continue beyond the 12-month tour of any soldier here.

"That's why, for us, the day of reckoning is Jan. 30," said Maj. Michael Lawrence, executive officer of the First Battalion, 24th Infantry, based at Mosul. "We think we're being successful. We also know we can't let one day define the entire effort. But this is our mission now."

Soldiers on point do not debate evidence on Saddam Hussein's program of unconventional weapons. They do not argue exit strategies or disengagement. And the question of whether enough troops are committed to Iraq is answered by looking to their immediate left and right. They pass the Skittles and PowerBars, load their weapons and just want to get through the patrol, election day, their tour in Iraq, and then go home.

"It's a funny thing: They don't want us here, and we don't want to be here," said First Sgt. Robert Wright of Company A, First Battalion, 24th Infantry. He is one of those small-unit leaders who is so sharp at guiding soldiers into urban combat that he has picked up the nickname Jedi.

"We know it's important to get these people back on their feet," he said.

Company A knows most directly about loss from this unconventional war, where even Iraqis who work among them may be their enemies, or an enemy may be wearing a uniform stolen from one who works among them. The commander, Capt. Bill Jacobsen, was one of the 22 killed when a bomb struck a mess tent in Forward Operating Base Marez last month in Mosul.

Capt. Jeffrey Van Antwerp was thrust into command. "We didn't lose a step," he said. "We got up and moved out." This week he moved his men onto a square beneath a mosque in Mosul where mortars were launched five minutes earlier.

Seven men were rounded up as possible witnesses to the mortar attack. Captain Van Antwerp quizzed each, in a tough way. But after shouting questions at the seventh - he wore a T-shirt with the "Friends" television show logo - Captain Van Antwerp relented. He let them go, but only after telling them to vote.

"We have to get the information about the insurgency," he said. "But we don't want to create more sympathizers for the anti-Iraqi forces."

In the fight against those insurgents, by late Friday, Colonel Milley's efforts for the Baghdad police general had helped bring in 80 percent of the requested AK-47's.

"Victory is won one inch at a time," he said.

[begintowonder]

its amazing the low number of suiciders and shit during the election...

[GrantT]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050131/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_suicide_attacks_2

Whoever calls these people "freedom fighters" should be ashamed.

[UFOSPACE99]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...cide_attacks_2

Whoever calls these people "freedom fighters" should be ashamed.

Marxist, Anarchists, The New York Times, CNN, CBC, BBC, 'Al' Guardian, take your pick!

Aldo

[GrantT]

Marxist, Anarchists, The New York Times, CNN, CBC, BBC, 'Al' Guardian, take your pick!

Nah CNN and the BBC aren't that extreme.