Somewhere a few days ago I saw an interesting summary of how surrounding countryies (Syria, Jordan, Egypt, etc.) will react if the likely scenario of a shi'ite controlled Iraq comes to be. I can't find it again, but will look some more later. There is some pretty interesting Arab commentary on the situation in Iraq and the relationship with both Syria & Iran on Asia Times. Julie Krueger ========Original Message======== Subj: [lit-ideas] Time for the Bush team to steal another election Date: 2/5/05 12:59:39 A.M. Central Standard Time From: _andreas@xxxxxxxxxxxx (mailto:andreas@xxxxxxxxxxx) To: _lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (mailto:lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx) Sent on: Baghdad -- Partial results from Sunday's election suggest that U.S.-backed Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's coalition is being roundly defeated by a list with the backing of Iraq's senior Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al- Sistani, diminishing Allawi's chances of retaining his post in the next government. "Americans are in for a shock. We've got 150,000 troops here protecting a country that's extremely friendly to Iran, and training their troops." The partial totals so far show the Iraqi List headed by Allawi, a secular Shiite and onetime CIA protege, trailed far behind with only 18 percent of the votes, despite an aggressive television ad campaign waged with U.S. aid. A lopsided majority of votes, 72 percent, went to the United Iraqi Alliance list, topped by a Shiite cleric who lived in Iran for many years and whose Sciri party has close ties to Iran's clerical regime. More than a third of the alliance's vote came from Baghdad, the cosmopolitan capital where Allawi had been expected to fare well. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/02/04/MNGSMB5MDT1.DTL yrs, andreas www.andreas.com ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html