Three Iraqi candidates and two campaign workers were killed Thursday as the country prepared for local elections in 14 out of 18 provinces. That’s something to keep in mind with all the talk of improved security. Relative to the hell-on-Earth of recent years, “improvement” amounts to only five people murdered for showing an interest in politics.

AFP via Google:

Gunmen claimed the lives of three Iraqi election candidates on Thursday and two campaign workers were also murdered in attacks just two days before the country’s first poll since 2005.

The run-up to Saturday’s provincial vote — seen as a key test of Iraq’s progress since the 2003 US-led invasion — had been relatively violence-free but the killings are certain to raise fears that militants could throw polling day into chaos.

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