Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Idea Of The Day -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: IQBAL LATIF who wrote (49275)	10/16/2005 12:19:16 PM
From: IQBAL LATIF	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 50167

iranian.com

To: IQBAL LATIF who wrote (49275)	10/17/2005 4:40:50 AM
From: IQBAL LATIF	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 50167

Ninevah and Diyala — the "yes" vote won out The Sunni "no" campaign appeared to have made the two-thirds threshold in Anbar province, the vast western Sunni heartland; and Salahuddin, where Sunnis hold a large majority and as many as 90 percent of voters cast ballots. But in two other provinces where Sunni Arabs have only slim majorities — Ninevah and Diyala — the "yes" vote won out. Sunni leaders responded angrily, some of them saying they suspected fraud and accusing American officials and the Shiite parties that dominate the government. "There is no doubt that America has interfered in the process, since they and the Shiite government are supervising the whole operation, and since both want this draft to pass," al-Kubaisi said. Although U.S. officials played an intense role in mediating negotiations over the draft constitution, they had no role in the counting process, run by an Iraqi elections commission. Still, many Sunnis expressed helplessness in their new status as the weaker party in a nation they once dominated under Saddam. "Whatever happens or will happen in politics has nothing to do with the will of the people. It comes from the political elite who run Iraq along with the Americans out of the Green Zone in Baghdad," said Zuhair Qassam al-Khashab, a mathematics professor in Mosul who voted "no." The Sunni turnout in some areas Saturday stood in contrast to January's elections, which they boycotted because they believed the political process was giving unfair power to the Shiite majority. That move cost left them with a minuscule presence in parliament. Enthusiasm was highest in Salahuddin and the Anbar city of Fallujah, where some 100,000 people voted — and the constitution's success could hit hardest in those areas. Anbar already is the main battleground between Sunni insurgents and U.S.-Iraqi forces. But in the two other possible swing provinces, the "yes" vote won the day — 70 percent to 20 percent in Diyala and 78 to 21 percent in Ninevah, according to initial reports from local election officials. Diyala's turnout was only 57 percent, suggesting many Sunnis there may have stayed away. And Sunnis in both provinces may have split their votes after one major Sunni party, the Iraqi Islamic Party, came out in support of the constitution after amendments were written into the draft text Wednesday. Those amendments give Sunni Arabs the opportunity in the next parliament to try to bring about deeper changes in the constitution. One man who voted "yes" in Mosul said his fellow Sunnis should campaign hard for the Dec. 15 vote. www.yahoo.com