Taylor Marsh – TaylorMarsh.com – News, Opinion and Weblog on Progressive Politics

Electricity went out for hours across the greater
Baghdad area Friday evening, and Sunni insurgents launched five attacks on
the largest Sunni Arab political party, all on the eve of Iraq’s vote on whether
to approve a new constitution. Insurgents bombed and burned the party’s offices
and the home of one of its leaders in retaliation after the group dropped
its opposition to the draft constitution. The cause of the blackout was not
immediately clear. Blackout,
Attacks Mar Eve of Iraq Vote

It won’t be long now.

Iraqis begin voting on their constitution within hours.

It’s ironic that the Iraqis have gone from Saddam’s slaves to
voting on a constitution. But Bush and his bunch still can’t get the electricity
to stay on. What does that say about us? It seems the least we could guarantee is lights and power,
given the fact we invaded their country and ignited hundred year old grudges,
don’t cha think?

Before dawn broke, a grenade was thrown at the largest Bahgdad neighborhood’s Sunni head cleric. During prayers, of all things, his son was threatened.

In one mosque in Tikrit, the cleric was calling the vote an
“infidel constitution written by foreign hands.”

But we’re supposed to believe Sunni opposition has been quelled.
If you listen to Fox “News,” it’s as if it never existed.

Here’s what some Sunni Arabs fear: “powerful mini-states
of Kurds in the north and majority Shiites in the south, both capitalizing
on Iraq’s oil wealth. By contrast, many Sunnis fear, their minority would
be left isolated in central and western Iraq with a weak central government
in Baghdad.”

That’s no secret and has been afloat for quite some time.

We were warned that attacks would escalate before the vote tomorrow.
They weren’t kidding.

Over 450 people have been killed in the last 19 days.

There’s now a 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew and schools and government
functions have ceased for 4 days, until after the vote, we are to assume.

Shiite posters say “yes.”

Sunnis say “no.”

And in the “Triangle of Death,” no one has hung anything. Considering the violence, we could consider that a plus.

Let’s just hope the referendum on the constitution passes, otherwise,
the temporary government dissolves, this nightmare starts all over again and
we’ll be talking about Iraqis voting this time next year.

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