Iraq news once again tops the headlines at the Times. First, this:
Iraqi election officials said Monday that they were investigating “unusually high” vote totals in 12 Shiite and Kurdish provinces, where as many as 99 percent of the voters were reported to have cast ballots in favor of Iraq’s new constitution. The investigation raised the possibility that the results of the referendum could be called into question.
In a statement on Monday evening, the Independent Election Commission of Iraq said the results of the referendum on Saturday would have to be delayed “a few days” because the apparently high number of “yes” votes required election workers to “recheck, compare and audit” the results.
The statement made no mention of the possibility of fraud, but said results were being re-examined to comply with internationally accepted standards. Election officials say that under those standards, voting procedures should be re-examined anytime a candidate or a ballot question got more than 90 percent of the vote.
Looks like the Daley family has been responsible for the voter education process in Iraq. Snark aside, of course this is problematic, for the obvious reasons (if for no other reason than it is reminiscent of the 99% votes for Saddam in years past. In other news, Hussein’s trial starts tomorrow:
On Wednesday, 22 months after he was dragged from his hiding place in an underground bunker, Saddam Hussein will appear in an Iraqi court to answer for the brutalities he inflicted on his fellow Iraqis. But what should be a moment of triumph for his victims is instead stirring concern about the fairness and competence of the court itself.
The special Iraqi tribunal established to conduct the trial has chosen a case that many Iraqis believe to be too narrow to answer the widespread yearning for Mr. Hussein to be held to account for the most savage of his crimes. And the political pressure to hasten the trial has forced the tribunal to accelerate some of the work needed to prepare for other cases involving tens of thousands of victims, nearly 300 mass graves and about 40 tons of documents gathered from the government agencies that oversaw his repression.
While many Iraqis are eager for the moment when they see Mr. Hussein in the dock, Western human rights groups and legal experts have warned that the former dictator is unlikely to get a fair trial, and that the probable outcome, a death sentence, will be what the tribunal’s harshest critics have described as “victor’s justice.”
If Saddam Hussein understands anything, it is “victor’s justice,” but in the long run, the transparency of this trial is probably more important for the future of Iraq than any ballot-stuffing.
Rusty Shackleford
I wonder if Rummy will be in trouble for aiding and abetting. Oh right, chemical weapons don’t kill people, dictators who were provided the weapons by the Reagan administration do.
demimondian
Well, at least we know why Condi Rice was so confident the Iraqi Constitution would pass. Ballot box stuffing is an old and established passtime in Ohi…I mean, Iraq.
John Cole
Myth.
Another Jeff
Comments like that just crack me up. There really are people on the left who think that ballot stuffing, voter intimidation, etc all started in Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004.
As someone who is Southwest Philly born and raised, I just have to laugh at how naive these people are.
goonie bird
Is al gore running for election in iraq? it sure sounds like it
Shygetz
Oh, are there old Jewish ladies voting for Hitler in Iraq? Nope? Then Gore must not be running.
Doug
Liberty is a bitch who must be bedded on a mattress of corpses. The only question is whether this is more of a committed relationship or a one-night stand.
demimondian
As someone born near Philly who’s lived in many major American cities (“Vote for Curley // Often and early”), I’m always amazed that people deny the long history of fraudulent elections the United States has seen…particularly in the context of 2000 and 2004.
Glad to see that you acknowledge that 2000 was stolen, though.
Another Jeff
Of course it was. When you look at the fact that in 2000, some PHilly precincts had over 100% turnout, it’s impossible NOT to say that the Democrats stole Pennsylvania.
demimondian
You know, I always thought that this was great evidence that Rove was a master strategist: instead of adding Republican votes to Republican precincts, where he would be blamed for his machinations, add them to Democratic precincts, where the Dems. would be blamed.
demimondian
Seriously: given that the Sunni-dominated “no” campaign won more than two thirds of the ballots in two provinces, if there was pro-yes ballot stuffing, then *poof* there goes any legitimacy the new constitution might have had: all the Sunnis would have needed was one more province where “no” got two/thirds…and the possibility that it was stolen would be sufficiently plausible to keep the insurgency alive, not to say strengthen it.
No matter what, if there were mass irregularities, then Iraq doesn’t have a constitution.
California Conservative
Another recount? We’ve declared victory for Al Gore…
skip
Re: Saddam’s trial.
I am waiting for the moment when SH says, “if you are still looking for my WMDS, why don’t you just check your arms sales receipts.”
Kimmitt
Fortunately, the Bush Administration is so squeaky-clean on this issue that no one in Iraq would seriously entertain such notions.
Yeah, yeah, and Clinton ran a coke ring down in Arkansas. Cite please.
demimondian
Unfortunately, the Iraqi “opposition” is unlike the American opposition in one critical aspect. The American opposition is peaceful, and could and did abide by the final decision, even if it is skeptical of the decision’s validity.
The Iraqi opposition will only abide by a decision if it genuinely believes that decision is beyond question. If there are stuffed ballot boxes anywhere in Iraq, then the story is over.
Bottom line? It doesn’t matter what you can convince yourself of — it only matter what the Sunni triangle in Iraq believes.
dano347
Looks like the Daley family has been responsible for the voter education process in Iraq.
That’s spelled D-i-e-b-o-l-d, Daley ‘s strictly local.
Mac Buckets
Read down the story:
So what we have appears to be deep division on the Constitution rather than fraud, eh? Or did Diebold-Bush-Rove fabricate Sunni NO votes as well, conspiracy-freaks?
Everyone knew the Constitution would pass in every one of the Shiite and Kurdish provinces, no questions asked, with a huge %age of YES votes. Why is it shocking, then, that there might’ve been “as high as” 99% agreement in a given area? Plus, what would be the possible incentive to stuff ballot boxes in a sure YES province? So I’m going to have to conclude that this half-witted, half-thought “fraud” suggestion is yet another desperate NYT whine to belittle the democratic process in Iraq.
Mac Buckets
Is paying convicts in crack cocaine to fabricate voter registrations for Democrats in Ohio technically illegal? If so, on what grounds?
Signed,
Naive Democrats
TallDave
On the vote: don’t miss the forest for the trees here. There are actually automatic auditing procedures triggered by results over 90%. Iraq’s vote will be thorooughly audited. Just one of the many democratic safeguards in the new Iraq, replacing the old “vote for Saddam or die horribly” audit procedures in place three years ago.
The most interesting thing is that Sunnis in Diyala and Ninevah province appears to have voted YES, while only Anbar and Salahuddin voted NO, suggesting a regional split between Sunni moderates and militants.
RA
The left is about to loose one of its great heros along with Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot. Hanging this butcher will have no effect on the Iraqi nation. In fact it will bring large portions of Iraq together. I don’t really care if the American hating ACLU types approve. Neither do the Iraqi people. They have a much better sense of justice than ACLU types.
demimondian
So the later quotes that had the yes vote in Mosul (in Nenevah province) higher by a factor of two than it could be didn’t mean anything, eh? The police chief who moved the polling station to his office without warning, but somehow managed to bring in a full set of totals?
I know it’s hard for you, but please, get a grip on reality. If those stories are true — and _however suspicious they are, we do not know whether they are or are not_ — then the election was stolen, and we all know it.
Shygetz
TallDave is (shudder) mostly right about the process, but he leaves out one key point. It doesn’t so much matter (as a practical issue) if the vote and audit is done fairly. What matters is that the Iraqis (and most notably, the Sunni fence-sitters) believe that the vote and audit were honest. Otherwise, you’re asking for a spread of civil war.
RA, you’re an idiot. Saying that Hussein is a hero to the left just because we didn’t think that it was worth a war to go depose him means that you are saying that Kim Jong Il is a hero to the right, because we’re not over in North Korea killing him right now.
RA, why do you love Kim Jong Il and hate America?
Howie
Again not Rusty an imposter.