DISPATCH Iraq
Story filed 12/30/2005

By Edward Lee Pitts
Military Affairs

Today, Iraqis can make a choice at the polls about the direction of their country for the first time in a half-century.

Starting across the country at 7 a.m., voters will select a transitional legislative assembly, whose 275 members will be charged with drafting a constitution by August.

After not voting for generations, the Iraqi people are scheduled to exercise their new right three times over the next 12 months. After making today's decision, the Iraqis will vote again in October to ratify the new constitution, and if the document passes, they will vote in December for a new assembly of lawmakers.

In addition to the interim national body, voters in portions of the 278th Regimental Combat Team's sector also will select a Kurdistan national assembly and a Diyala provincial council, according to Maj. Eddie Robbins, 48, of Memphis.

Abdulla Al-Jubori, governor of the Diyala province, where most of the 278th soldiers are stationed, said he expects about 600,000 people to vote today in a province of roughly 1.4 million eligible voters -- about a 43 percent participation rate.

Maj. Robbins, who is in charge of elections for the 278th, said he predicts each of the roughly 90 polling sites in the 278th's area of responsibility will see between 2,000 to 2,500 voters today. Due to security concerns, the amount of polling sites may be reduced, he said.

Gov. Al-Jubori said he hoped rehearsal drills conducted last week by the Iraqi army and police forces would make security less of a concern in this province than voter education. Homes in Diyala get an average of just two hours of television each night because of electricity strains. While this may mean Iraqis have not been burdened with the bombardment of political commercials common in last year's U.S. presidential election, it also makes the average Iraqi largely unaware of who and what he or she is actually voting for, according to Gov. Al-Jubori.

"We didn't get much time to explain to the people what the election is," he said.

But, Gov. Al-Jubori said, the elections have gotten heavy airtime on area radio stations, a steadier source of information for this largely rural part of the country.

Still, posters advertising candidates are sparse in the region, further clouding the identities of exactly who is running for office.

"Most of them do not want their name out there for fear of assassination," Maj. Robbins said.

The Iraqi people are voting more for their favored political parties than for any one person, according to Maj. Robbins. A list of political entities vying for seats in the assembly was released about 48 hours before election day. Nationally, there are about 164 political parties with 15 main political entities in the Diyala province, according to Maj. Robbins.

The regiment and area Iraqi leaders are depending heavily on word of mouth to get out the vote, Maj. Robbins said. The voting handouts given by civil affairs units and by Iraqi security forces as well as today's ballots contain symbols because many Iraqis are illiterate.

Whatever happens in today's elections, Gov. Al-Jubori said, a real dent in the insurgency won't occur until more Iraqis find jobs. The chance to make a good living outweighs the right to vote for the average family in Iraq, especially for unemployed members of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein's Baathist party, he said.

Gov. Al-Jubori said the lack of election support by the Sunni minority in the country means the resulting national assembly may not reflect a balanced representation of Iraq's diverse ethnic and religious groups, with the majority Shiite Muslims gaining most spots on the assembly.

Gov. Al-Jubori said he predicts December's scheduled general elections, when the people decide on a permanent legislative body, may be a more accurate vote.

"They (Iraqi people) will be more practiced in elections and will go with more confidence to the next elections," he said.

Gov. Al-Jubori said he is even considering making a run then for a position in the national government.

"I will go for it if I stay alive," said Gov. Al-Jubori, who has had his life threatened 14 times since taking his current position.

Col. Dennis Adam, regimental commander of the 278th, said the winners of today's elections will gain more than a seat on the table drafting the constitution. They, like Gov. Al-Jubori, may become targets of the insurgency in the continuing cycle of violence.

But Gen. Nazim Sharif Mohammed, an officer with Iraq's border patrol, said this year's voting should spell eventual success far down the road.

"If we establish a new Iraq, we know our futures for our children are secure," he said.

E-mail Lee Pitts at lpitts@timesfreepress.com

Story Copyright to Chattanooga Times Free press