Legislative elections in Iraq

Elections for the Iraqi National Assembly 275 seats were conducted Dec. 15, 2005 with seats accorded proportionally in each of the 18 governorates making Iraq. Approximately 11 million votes were cast with turnout beetwin 55% and 88% depending on the governorate. Approximately 1000 complaints have been registered with the Election Commission.

The Shi'ite coalition was reported to have won the largest share of the vote with votes largely along ethnic/sectarian lines. The Sunni partition was said to be important as shown by the relatively high participation in all governorate.

Final voting results are expected by the beginning of January.

Gérard Chaliand comments in Le Figaro, 2005/12/21, "Quel que soit le jugement que l'on porte sur cette guerre – une guerre de choix aux justifications manipulées –, deux groupes hier opprimés et réprimés représentant 80% de la population participent désormais au pouvoir. Si la démocratie est l'expression des aspirations de la majorité, cette transformation constitue un succès. Reste, afin de ne pas déboucher sur un chaos, à tenter de réinsérer dans le processus politique une majorité de sunnites maladroitement écartés naguère et dont Washington a cruellement besoin aujourd'hui."

Bush spinning reality away...

President George W. Bush appealed (2005/12/18) to Americans not to give in to "defeatism" in Iraq, warning of more sacrifice in the months ahead but insisting, "We are winning the war in Iraq."

What would it be like if the US were losing? It is saddening to see all the bungling that started with the occupation, sometimes out of stupidity, sometimes out of interests (see for instance Night draws near by A. Shadid) continuing under such propaganda.

Anthony H. Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies who has been upportive of Bush's strategy in Iraq commented that "A lot of the numbers throughout his speech spin reality almost out of control".

Seller Tied to Hussein's Gas Attack Is Convicted

A Dutch court concluded the first trial involving the mass killing of Iraqi Kurds with chemical weapons in the town of Halabja in 1988. It convicted Mr. van Anraat, 63, of complicity in a war crime, as supplier of the weapon ingredients, and sentenced him to 15 years in jail, while the judges wrote that "the crimes are of such a grave nature that even the maximum sentence cannot do them justice.". An appeal has been announced. Mr. van Anraat had been arrested already in 1989 in Italy at the request of the US Government before becoming a fugitive in Iraq.

(NY Times, Yahoo! Actualités)

Of course, French arm dealers who never have done such a thing, wouldn't they?