Originally posted by PDXSVT:
And there will be some candidates running on a platform of asking us to leave. What if they win?





We leave as we gave our word that we would leave. And we remind them that if this new government appears to be a threat to our security or supports terrorists that they (the new gov) will be decapitated as Sadam's gov was and the Taliban gov was. And give them our word on that..

I think elections will occur in January, because we MUST make them occur at that time. The murdering will be ramping up until then...delay will encourage even more. I think US & Iraqi security forces will have to be maximally deployed with a streamlined number of "well" protected voting locations, not all cities or provinces may ultimately be represented this time around but most will. Many will likely die trying to vote...but this may be their first lesson on how valuable their vote is.

I will also predict some large protests, riots, or even relatively large uprising afterwards. The new leader may well have his first big test controlling this uprising...and will likely request our (short term) help, unless he is VERY anti-US. How the Iraqi military responds here, do they follow the new president, are they effective, will be an indicator of how long we may stay after..




1999 Amazon Green SVT Contour (#554/2760) "People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use." -Soren Kierkegaard (as posted by Jato)