Iraqi Voting Tally Deals Deathblow to Neocon Fantasies

By Blair Golson

AP: BAGHDAD, Iraq - An alliance of Shiite religious parties won the most seats in Iraq’s new parliament but not enough to rule without coalition partners, the election commission said Friday. Sunni Arabs gained seats over previous balloting.

A top Sunni politician, meanwhile, appealed for the release of American journalist Jill Carroll and urged U.S. and Iraqi forces to stop arresting Iraqi women, as a deadline set by kidnappers was set to expire. | story

• Also, read Juan Cole on how Bush created a theocracy in Iraq. | column


• And read Bob Scheer on Iran’s victory in Iraq. | item

Update: A former Pentagon analyst is sentenced to 12 years-plus for leaking confidential documents in an attempt to get the U.S. to take the threat of Iran more seriously. | story

Update No. 2: Iran and Iraq are already linking arms on the construction of electricity facilities. (hat tip: LHMCMANUS@aol.com)

Khalid Mohammed / AP

Iraq’s most powerful Shiite politician, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, believes that Sunni Arab participation in a new government will not be enough to lure hard-liners away from the insurgency. Al-Hakim, head of the country’s largest Shiite party, told the Associated Press that Sunni Arabs must accept the “new reality” in Iraq and shoulder their responsibility to rebuild the nation nearly three years after the collapse of Saddam Hussein’s Sunni-dominated regime.