Bush Hails Iraqi Vote, but Warns of More Fighting Ahead
By DAVID E. SANGER
President Bush declared the Iraqi election a triumphant
moment in his effort to spur democracy throughout the
Middle East.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/31/politics/31prexy.html?th

Security Efforts Hold Insurgents Mostly at Bay
By THOM SHANKER and ERIC SCHMITT
U.S. and Iraqi forces widely thwarted insurgents who had
threatened to wash the streets with blood.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/31/politics...ilitary.html?th


QUOTATION OF THE DAY -

"A hundred names on the ballot are better than one, because it means that we are free."
- FADILA SALEH, an Iraqi voter.


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/31/internat...streets.html?th

Iraq's Election
A look at Sunday's elections, with audio reports from Times correspondents, photos and an interactive graphic examining the top parties and their main candidates.
http://www.nytimes.com/index.html?th

In a Shiite Neighborhood, Residents Brave Explosions
By DEXTER FILKINS
The bombs kept exploding, but in Karada, a Shiite
neighborhood in Baghdad, voters hardly even bothered to
look up.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/31/internat...31scene.html?th

Allawi Urges Countrymen to Unite

By Anthony Shadid

Iraq's interim leader called on his countrymen to set aside their differences Monday while jubilant Iraqis sifted through millions of ballots, tallying the results of a vote they hoped would usher in democracy.

To view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...er=emailarticle

Iraqis Defy Threats as Millions Vote

By Anthony Shadid

BAGHDAD, Jan. 30 -- Millions of Iraqis turned out Sunday to cast ballots in the country's first free elections in a half-century, the ranks of voters surging as attacks by insurgents proved less ferocious than feared and enthusiasm spilled over into largely Sunni Arab regions where hardly a campaign poster had appeared.

To view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...er=emailarticle

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=4654

Iraq Election: Sistani's Triumph

http://www.antiwar.com/orig/karama.php?articleid=4651

The Iraqi Ballot, Translated
Hawra Karama

http://www.independent.org/publications/po...type=full&id=16

Policy Report: The Way Out of Iraq: Decentralizing the Iraqi Government
Ivan Eland

http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fSectio...ticleId=2392099

Triumph and tragedy for Iraq
Low level of Sunni participation tarnishes success of large poll turnout

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/01/30/news/policy.html

Bush hails a 'resounding success'

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/GB01Ak02.html

Why The US Will Not Leave Iraq
Pepe Escobar

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/GB01Ak01.html

Its Not the Vote That Counts
Syed Saleem Shahzad

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/GB01Ak03.html

Commentary
So, Who Really Did Win?
Mark Erikson

--------------------
Big Step but Long Road for U.S. Goals
--------------------

The election might not yield wider support, a friendly regime or an end to the insurgency.

By Paul Richter
Times Staff Writer

January 31 2005

WASHINGTON — Election day in Iraq brought a rare dose of favorable news for the Bush administration's efforts there but left unanswered whether others will follow.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...0,7400174.story

--------------------
Iraqi Turnout Trumps Violence
--------------------

Millions Vote Despite Deadly Attacks and Threats; Bush Hails Outcome as 'Resounding Success'

By Patrick J. McDonnell
Times Staff Writer

January 31 2005

BAGHDAD — Millions of Iraqis defied violence, calls for a boycott and a legacy of despotism to cast ballots Sunday in the nation's first multiparty elections in half a century.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...0,1546703.story

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0201/p01s03-woiq.html

For Iraq's Insurgents, what next?

http://robert-fisk.com/

We'll go on cheering 'democracy' - and the Iraqis will go on dying
Robert Fisk

How election reverberates beyond Iraq
Both Iraqi unity and global engagement may get a boost. By Howard
LaFranchi
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0201/p01s02-usgn.html?s=hns

For Iraq's insurgents, what next?
Militants are facing a new postelection dynamic - a population that has
endorsed the political process. By Scott Peterson
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0201/p01s03-woiq.html?s=hns

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Bomb theory for plane crash
A British transport plane which crashed in Iraq might have beendestroyed by
a bomb planted on board according to a Londonnewspaper.
http://newsletters.fairfax.com.au/cgi-bin1...SLZ0Bnf0Bi6P0Ev

--------------------
Vote Raises Hopes in War Against Rebels
--------------------

The successful election may offer U.S. and Iraqi officials the chance to split insurgency's ranks.

By Alissa J. Rubin
Times Staff Writer

February 1 2005

BAGHDAD — After a strong turnout in this weekend's vote and fewer casualties than many expected, Iraqi and American authorities are looking for new ways to drain the insurgency's energy and capitalize on momentum from the election.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...headlines-world

Experts analyze video evidence that insurgents shot down the C-130 as Britain mourns the dead.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0201/dailyUpdate.html

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/internatio...artner=homepage

Iraqi President Says US Troops Should Stay

http://www.mosnews.com/news/2005/01/31/gorbacheviraq.shtml

Gorbachev Calls Iraqi Elections "Fake"

Iraqis Who Died While Daring to Vote Are Mourned as Martyrs
By EDWARD WONG
Naim Rahim Yacoubi, a fishmonger, was one of at least 50
Iraqis who paid with their lives for the hard-won right to
vote.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/02/internat...02najaf.html?th

Next Steps in Iraq
In tonight's address, President Bush needs to tell America
how he plans to encourage Iraqis to build on this
extraordinary electoral moment.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/02/opinion/02wed1.html?th

--------------------
Alleged Kidnapping of Soldier May Be a Hoax
--------------------

A California firm says a photo posted on an insurgent website looks like one of its dolls. The military says no one is missing.

By Monte Morin
Times Staff Writer

February 2 2005

A militant group's claim that it kidnapped a U.S. soldier in Iraq and planned to behead him appeared to be a hoax Tuesday, as a Southern California toy manufacturer said a photo of the purported captive on an insurgent website looked like one of its collectible dolls.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...0,4310809.story

--------------------
Shiite Alliance Claims Victory
--------------------

The slate would have to reach out to Sunnis and Kurds to govern. Its leaders reject installing clerics and turning Iraq into a theocracy.

By Alissa J. Rubin
Times Staff Writer

February 2 2005

BAGHDAD — Leaders of a predominantly Shiite Muslim list of candidates said Tuesday that their slate had won more than 50% of the votes cast for Iraq's transitional national assembly, but reaffirmed that they would refrain from using their power to install clerics in the new government.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...0,3612819.story

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...&e=15&u=/ap/ira

Sunni Clerics: Iraqi Vote Illegitimate

NEWS TRANSCRIPT from the United States Department of Defense

DoD News Briefing
Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld
Tuesday, February 1, 2005

Mr. Secretary, thanks for being with us. A historic election obviously
in Iraq. That day, as you were watching those pictures come in, talking to
commanders, and now days after -- your reactions.

RUMSFELD: There are two powerful reactions or feelings that I had.
One was that as those Iraqis went out, sometimes very tentatively, stood around the polling place, didn't go in to vote, waited to see if anyone else was going to
vote, and finally voted. Then what they saw was everyone else was voting. Think
of the confidence they gained.

They were told if they voted they would be killed. The election
workers were told they'd be killed if they worked at the election area. Iraqi
security forces were attacked and they stayed right there and did their job. Acts
of enormous personal courage by those people, but the important thing was they saw that the overwhelming majority of the Iraqis, millions of Iraqis, want to vote,
they want to have elections, they want to be free, they want to make a success out
of their country, and they saw that everyone else felt that way. The encouragement and the confidence that that gives them just has to be enormous. That has to cause a tipping of support for the government, whoever is elected.

The second thing, you can't help but think of all the people who have
been killed or wounded, and all the people who have said we shouldn't be there, we should pull out, we shouldn't have done it, that type of thing. Those people who
were there putting their lives at risk, those people who fell in the nation's
service over there, those people who were wounded and are now in recuperation and therapy and trying to recover from terrible wounds, they have to be proud.

Q: What do you think this election will do for the security situation
on the ground in Iraq?

RUMSFELD: Well, if you have a country of 25 million people and you
have X thousands of criminals, terrorists, Ba'athists, former regime elements who
want to blow up things and make bombs and kill people, they can still do that.
That happens in most major cities in the world, most countries in the world, that
people get killed and there's violence, and it's a violent part of the world. So I
don't expect that it will end the violence. I do think that they are clearly now
on a path towards a free system. And if you think back about Afghanistan, everyone said this country couldn't do it. Sure enough, there they are, they've elected a president, they're going to have parliamentary elections this April or May.
They're on a good path towards a democratic system stacked full of all of the
diverse elements of the country. People get killed occasionally. It's violent.
And the only thing that gets reported, though, is the people getting killed and the
violence. Because in fact in Afghanistan, they're a year and a half, two years
ahead of Iraq, but look how look how long it took to have elections in Germany and Japan. It took years.

Q: The Sunnis who stayed away, do you believe they were staying away
because they were boycotting or because they were intimidated?

RUMSFELD: Probably both.

Q: Both?

RUMSFELD: Sure. You have what, 20 percent of the population ran the
country for 35 years. Not a bad deal. And not likely to happen now. So they're
trying to figure out how this all works.

Put it this way, in a vicious dictatorship like that, that existed for
so many decades, the idea that a piece of paper, a constitution, can protect people
from oppression or from unfairness by another element in their community, you want to be very careful before you buy that, so they are careful. And I can understand their being careful, but it's going to happen. It's going to happen because every other element in that country knows that for success, they want the Sunnis involved. There are going to be Sunnis, there are Sunnis on the list. There will be Sunnis elected. The process will reflect the reality that the winners in this election know that it's in their interest to find ways to engage the Sunnis that
don't have blood on their hands.

Q: Do you have any metric to gauge how many Iraqi forces are trained
and equipped enough to be able to take the reins now?

RUMSFELD: Sure. We know. We know there are 130,200 Iraqis who have been trained and equipped. Some of them have been trained, then they're out on the job one day later. Some have been trained and they've been experienced for six months or a year. So it's very uneven as to the experience they have. There's also another 70,000 site protection people who have been trained in varying ways and they protect sites. They're not Ministry of Defense or Ministry of Interior.

Now what does that mean? Is that enough? The answer is no. It's
going to take more than that in a country like that. How many more? It's hard to
know because you don't know how violent the insurgency is going to be. Their
problem is not to defend themselves against external threats at the present time,
their problem is to repress that insurgency and stop it. And --

Q: You know there's a lot of debate on this subject, on the numbers of
Iraqi troops that are ready. Senator Biden in Condoleezza Rice's hearing said,
“For God's sakes don't listen to Rumsfeld, he doesn't know what in the hell he's
talking about on this.” How do you respond to that?

RUMSFELD: Obviously the people who are providing this information,
provide it every week, we put it on the web site, it's available to any member of
the House or Senate or the public. And the fact of the matter is that there are
130,200 who have been trained and equipped -- no matter what he says. That's a
fact. And how do I know that? I know it because General Petraeus counts them.

Now are some getting killed every day? Sure. Are some retiring at
various times or injured? Yes, they're gone. Are new ones coming in every day?
Yes. Are the numbers adjusting every day? Certainly. Does that mean that because a person's trained and equipped that they're as highly skilled or as competent as U.S. forces? Of course not. There isn't a military in the Middle East that's as competent as U.S. forces. But the idea that that number's wrong is just not correct. The number is right. The number is what General Petraeus is saying it is and I believe him. And I believe General Casey, and I believe General Abizaid.

Now the important thing is that that really misses the point, the
numbers. What you're looking for is capability. Capability is a function partly
of numbers, partly of training, partly of equipment, but it's also a function of
leadership, it's a function of experience. And these are not battle-hardened
veterans. These are not people who have been in the military or the police or the
border patrol or the National Guard for two, four, six, eight years and had
deployments and had experience and know the chain of command. The ministries are terribly weak. They didn't exist so they're being staffed up now. You need a
strong ministry to see that the effectiveness of the forces is there.

Q: So are we entering tougher times now, post-election? Or is this
the beginning of a stage where down the road we're going to see U.S. troops coming home in large numbers?

RUMSFELD: Look, the President said they're going to stay as long as
they're needed and not one day longer. Now what does that mean? It means we have no intention in keeping them there permanently. We have every intention of
bringing them home. The goal is to assist the Iraqis to develop the capability
with respect to their security forces so that they can provide for their own
security and that's what we're doing. When that's done they'll come home.

Q: Is this tough? Tough days ahead definitely?

RUMSFELD: Oh, sure. It's bound to be tough. It's a tough part of the
world. This isn't an easy business. It's not smooth sledding. It never has
been. There's never been a country that's gone from a dictatorship to a democracy on a featherbed. It just doesn't work that way.

Q: Do you see this as a vindication personally, this election as a
vindication of you after a year of a lot of critics coming after you, and maybe a
vindication of U.S. policy?

RUMSFELD: I don't think of it in terms of vindication or even a need
for vindication. I don't think there's ever been a wartime President or a wartime
Secretary of Defense where there haven't been people critical of it and saying what about this or what about that, or this should be this way or this should be that
way. That comes with the territory. What's important is that we have wonderful
young men and women out there that are doing an absolutely superb job for our
country. They're well led, they're well equipped. They know that what they're
doing is noble work and when this is over they will look back with great pride on
what they've accomplished, on the people, 25 million people in Afghanistan they've
liberated, 25 million people in Iraq they will have liberated, and they will see
those two countries on a path towards democracy and they'll be proud the rest of
their lives.
Q: Mr. Secretary, thank you.


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POST-ELECTION BUZZKILL: WHY IRAQ IS STILL A DEBACLE

By Arianna Huffington

Quick, before the conventional wisdom hardens, it needs to be said: The Iraqi elections were not the second coming of the Constitutional Convention.

The media have made it sound like last Sunday was a combination of 1776, the fall of the Berlin Wall, Prague Spring, the Ukraine's Orange Revolution, Filipino "People Power," Tiananmen Square and Super Bowl Sunday -- all rolled into one.

It's impossible not to be moved by the stories coming out of Iraq: voters braving bombings and mortar blasts to cast ballots; multiethnic crowds singing and dancing outside polling places; election workers, undeterred by power outages, counting ballots by the glow of oil lamps; teary-eyed women in traditional Islamic garb proudly holding up their purple ink-stained fingers -- literally giving the finger to butcher knife-wielding murderers.

It was a great moment. A Kodak moment. And unlike the other Kodak moments from this war -- think Saddam's tumbling statue and Jessica Lynch's "rescue" -- this one was not created by the image masters at Karl Rove Productions.

But this Kodak moment, however moving, should not be allowed to erase all that came before it, leaving us unprepared for all that may come after it.

I'm sorry to kill the White House's buzz -- and the press corps' contact high -- but the triumphalist fog rolling across the land has all the makings of another "Mission Accomplished" moment.

Forgive me for trotting out Santayana's shopworn dictum that those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it but, for god's sake people, can't we even remember last week?

So amid all the talk of turning points, historic days and defining moments, let us steadfastly refuse to drink from the River Lethe that brought forgetfulness and oblivion to my ancient ancestors.

Let's not forget that for all the president's soaring rhetoric about spreading freedom and democracy, free elections were the administration's fallback position. More Plan D than guiding principle. We were initially going to install Ahmed Chalabi as our man in Baghdad, remember? Then that shifted to the abruptly foreshortened reign of "Bremer of Arabia." The White House only consented to holding open elections after Grand Ayatollah Sistani sent his followers into the streets to demand them -- and even then Bush refused to allow the elections until after our presidential campaign was done, just in case more suicide bombers than voters turned up at Iraqi polling places.

And the election doesn't change that.

Let's not forget that despite the hoopla, this was a legitimate democratic election in name only. Actually, not even in name since most of the candidates on Sunday's ballot had less name recognition than your average candidate for dogcatcher. That's because they were too afraid to hold rallies or give speeches. Too terrorized to engage in debates. In fact, many were so anxious about being killed that they fought to keep their names from being made public. Some didn't even know their names had been placed on the ballot. On top of that, this vote was merely to elect a transitional national assembly that will then draft a new constitution that the people of Iraq will then vote to approve or reject, followed by yet another vote -- this time to elect a permanent national assembly.

And the election doesn't change that.

Let's not forget that many Iraqi voters turned out to send a defiant message not just to the insurgents but to President Bush as well. Many of those purple fingers were raised in our direction. According to a poll taken by our own government, a jaw-dropping 92 percent of Iraqis view the U.S.-led forces in Iraq as "occupiers" while only 2 percent see them as "liberators."

And the election doesn't change that.

Let's not forget that the war in Iraq has made America far less safe than it was before the invasion. According to an exhaustive report released last month by the CIA's National Intelligence Council, Iraq has become a breeding ground for the next generation of "professionalized" Islamic terrorists. Foreign terrorists are now honing their deadly skills against U.S. troops -- skills they will eventually take with them to other countries, including ours. The report also warns that the war in Iraq has deepened solidarity among Muslims worldwide and increased anti-American feelings across the globe. Iraq has also drained tens of billions of dollars in resources that might otherwise have gone to really fighting the war on terror or increasing our preparedness for another terror attack here at home.

And the election doesn't change that.

Let's not forget the woeful lack of progress we've made in the reconstruction of Iraq. The people there still lack such basics as gas and kerosene. Indeed, Iraqis often wait in miles-long lines just to buy gas. The country is producing less electricity than before the war -- roughly half of current demand. There are food shortages, the cost of staple items such as rice and bread is soaring, and the number of Iraqi children suffering from malnutrition has nearly doubled. According to UNICEF, nearly 1 in 10 Iraqi children is suffering the effects of chronic diarrhea caused by unsafe water -- a situation responsible for 70 percent of children's deaths in Iraq.

And the election doesn't change that.

Let's not forget the blistering new report from the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, which finds that the U.S. occupation government that ruled Iraq before last June's transfer of sovereignty has been unable to account for nearly $9 billion, overseeing a reconstruction process "open to fraud, kickbacks and misappropriation of funds."

And the election doesn't change that.

Let's not forget that we still don't have an exit strategy for Iraq. The closest the president has come is saying that we'll be able to bring our troops home when, as he put it on Sunday, "this rising democracy can eventually take responsibility for its own security" -- "eventually" being the operative word. Although the administration claims over 120,000 Iraqi security forces have been trained, other estimates put the number closer to 14,000, with less than 5,000 of them ready for battle. And we keep losing those we've already trained: some 10,000 Iraqi National Guardsmen have quit or been dropped from the rolls in the last six months. Last summer, the White House predicted Iraqi forces would be fully trained by spring 2005; their latest estimate has moved that timetable to summer 2006.

And the election doesn't change that.

And let's never forget this administration's real goal in Iraq, as laid out by Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, and their fellow neocon members of the Project for the New American Century back in 1998 when they urged President Clinton and members of Congress to take down Saddam "to protect our vital interests in the Gulf." These vital interests were cloaked in mushroom clouds, WMD that turned into "weapons of mass destruction-related program activities," and a Saddam/al-Qaida link that turned into, well, nothing. Long before the Bushies landed on freedom and democracy as their 2005 buzzwords, they already had their eyes on the Iraqi prize: the second-largest oil reserves in the world, and a permanent home for U.S. bases in the Middle East.

This is still the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time. And the election, as heart-warming as it was, doesn't change any of that.

© 2005 ARIANNA HUFFINGTON.
DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

NEWS TRANSCRIPT from the United States Department of Defense

DoD News Briefing
Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld
Tuesday, February 1, 2005


CNN: Mr. Secretary, everybody agrees this was an historic event in
Iraq. There was a palpable feeling in the country of jubilation. What was your
reaction?

RUMSFELD: Courage. The fact that there were constant threats of death
to people who worked in the election polling booths; threats of death to the
security forces; threats of death to people who voted; graffiti that said "You
vote, you die"; and yet the Iraqi people went out by the millions, the Iraqi
security forces who have been belittled by, from time to time by people, did a
wonderful job, a truly wonderful job. They were the security for these thousands
of voting areas in booths and centers. And certainly the Iraqi people I just --

I think what it shows -- I don't know, it's too soon to know, but what
it may have shown is something to us, and you characterized it, but more important I think it shows something to the Iraqi people. It said look, the fellow down the street agrees with you and the one across the street does. They hadn't said anything about it, but down deep inside they want freedom and they want a system that they can participate in and they don't want to go back and turn back the clock and turn their country back to Saddam Hussein or his killers or to Zarkawi and foreign jihadists. Once they looked at each other and saw each other responding that way it has to give them all a collective confidence in the future of the country.

CNN: So do you think Iraq has turned a corner? Is there, I hesitate
to use the Vietnam phrase, but is there light at the end of the tunnel?

RUMSFELD: Oh, don't do that. You don't want to use that phrase.

Who knows? What happened was an amazing accomplishment for the Iraqi people. I think that 35 years of a repressive dictatorship can change people. It can affect their ethics and their morale and their confidence. It can impose a feeling of helplessness on them. Under Saddam Hussein if you stuck your head up and disagreed you'd be killed, so people learned not to disagree. And they learned to accept. And yet here they showed a collective and individual act of courage that was just breathtaking.

CNN: What does this mean in terms of how soon the United States will
be able to reduce significantly its true presence in Iraq and when will all the
troops be able to come home?

RUMSFELD: You know, obviously the answer to your question is not a
month or a year, it is condition based. It's based on when the Iraqi government
and their security forces can develop the capability, the capacity to provide for
the security of their people.

We've been working very hard on it. There are over 130,000 Iraqi
security forces in the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Defense. There's
another 70,000 site protection people, so a lot's been done. We have a terrific
team of people working on it at the present time.

The problem is not numbers, because there are lots of volunteers. The
problem is not even equipment. The ones I mentioned are trained and equipped,
130-plus-thousand. The task, the more difficult task is developing the rib cage
for the security forces, the non-commissioned officers and the junior officers and
the majors and the lieutenant colonels; staffing the ministries with the kind of
competence so that the chain of command works; developing the ability of the forces to gather and utilize and share intelligence information in an effective way.

CNN: Not to interrupt but --

RUMSFELD: Those are the things that make the difference.

CNN: So what does that say to the average American who wants to know
when troops will start to come back? Do you hope to be able to reduce troop levels say by the spring or summer?

RUMSFELD: Jamie, every time somebody has thought it would be
convenient to come up with something that they didn't know and they knew they
didn't know -- that is to say the total cost or the date certain when something's
going to happen -- in two, four, six, eight, ten months they look foolish. It's
something of convenience for the moment. I don't do that. We don't do that. We
know that it is condition based. It will depend on how fast the Iraqi people are
able to come together, as they did on Election Day, and develop that capacity to
provide their own security. They're doing it, they've made good strides, we're
making good progress, and notwithstanding where you hear well, the Iraqi security
forces aren't very good, in fact they did a very good job on election day.

CNN: We don't know yet the results of this election, but what if it
turns out that the government it produces is not particularly friendly to the
United States? Or asks the United States to leave before the U.S. believes Iraq is
ready?

RUMSFELD: Well, why do we want to anticipate all of those things? The
fact of the matter is we're there under a UN Security Council Resolution. The
Iraqis that people talk to all indicate that their security forces are not yet
ready to take over security for the country. Reasonable people in that country
like to have security so one would think that reasonable people are not going to
make the kinds of requests that you're suggesting.

I think it is important for the American people to understand this.
The period now -- They're tallying the votes, and at some point between now and
February 15th they'll announce the winners. Then they will seat the interim
assembly, constituent assembly. Then that group, that's a period of uncertainty
between now and the 15th of February. Then there's a period where that group of
the constituent assembly selects a president and two deputy presidents, then a
prime minister. Then the prime minister selects the ministry people for all of the
ministries. Then they go into their positions and start getting organized. Now
you're talking about February, March, probably into April. It takes time for it.
Democracy is not efficient. It's the best form of government that anyone's ever
tried but it doesn't do things in one second because it's not dictatorial.

So we're in a period where we're going to have to work with them and
have them sort through and fashion an Iraqi solution to how they're going to manage
their freedom.

CNN: Do you think the recent events in Iraq have proved your critics
wrong? Do you think you'll be vindicated in your judgment about the direction that
Iraq is going and where it will end up?

RUMSFELD: Well, I wouldn't want to hang it on the elections. I think
what we've been doing has been right from the beginning. I think it is right
today. I think that the great sweep of history is for freedom and that we're on
the right side. We've had wonderful people out there doing a great job of training
and equipping and helping the Iraqi people get on the path towards democracy.
They're making those steps. It's not an easy path, it's a rough path, and there
will be some terrible bumps in the road. It's a violent part of the world, let
there be no doubt, and it's not going to be smooth sailing every day. But I think
they're on the right path.

Look at Afghanistan. What a wonderful accomplishment. Twenty-five
million people have been liberated. They've elected a president. They're now
going to have parliamentary elections sometime in April or shortly thereafter.
They're completing the so-called Bonn process. Has it been a perfectly smooth
path? No. Is it ever smooth from dictatorship to democracy? No, it isn't.

I think people will find that basically the right decisions have been
made.

CNN: Thank you, sir. Thank you for taking the time to talk to us.

RUMSFELD: It's always a privilege and an honor, Jamie.



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http://www.defendamerica.mil

Iraqi Refugees Overwhelm Syria

By Scott Wilson

ALEPPO, Syria -- Sabbah Zaker had a small, sturdy construction company in the Iraqi city of Mosul, and although he did not agree with the U.S. invasion, he accepted a $10,000 contract last summer to renovate schools and health clinics across his ethnically mixed home town. A few months later, his name began appearing on the walls of his neighborhood as a warning from insurgents not to cooperate with the Americans.

To view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...er=emailarticle

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=12581

Iraqi Oil Pipeline suffers new sabotage

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle...sp?story=607213

Bin Laden deputy urges Holy War after elections

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...n_re_mi_ea/iraq

Vengeful Insurgents Ramp Up Iraq Attacks

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...e_mi_ea/un_iraq

Iraq Wants UN to lift Sanctions

http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?ID=36853

US plans to maintain 135,000 troops in Iraq as it intensifies Iraqi training: defense officials

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/03/internat...f194853&ei=5070

First Iraqi Election Returns Show Commanding Lead for Shiites

http://fairuse.1accesshost.com/news2/salon50.html

The Shiite Earthquake

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6874656/

Deadliest attacks since Iraq election kill 28

NEWS TRANSCRIPT from the United States Department of Defense

DoD News Briefing
Iraqi Interior Minister Falah al-Naqib
Thursday, February 3, 2005 - 10:02 a.m. EST
(Via Videoconference From Iraq)
Moderator: Bryan Whitman

MR. WHITMAN: Mr. Naqib, can you hear me?

MINISTER AL NAQIB: Yes, I can hear you.

MR. WHITMAN: This is Bryan Whitman at the Pentagon. Thank you for
joining us today. And, ladies and gentlemen here in the Pentagon, good morning and welcome. Today, we do have Iraqi Minister of Interior Falah al Naqib. He joins us from Baghdad, and he's been kind enough to offer some of his time, and give us some perspectives of the historic events that has occurred in Iraq over the last couple of days, and particularly address some of the Iraqi security forces, and what they are doing, and how they are developing.

I believe he has a few comments he would like to make, Mr. Minister,
and then we'll open it up for some questions.

MINISTER AL NAQIB: Yes. First of all, I would like to thank the
United States for helping Iraq and the Iraqis in getting rid of the regime, the
brutal regime of Saddam Hussein, and then helping the Iraqis to build its own
democratic state. So, I think most of the Iraqi people appreciate that very much.

First of all, I must say that in just two years, Iraq has gone from a
total dictatorship to the first-ever democratic vote in this country. On January
30th, 2005, the Iraqis proved skeptics wrong. They stood up to terrorism, and
showed the world what's in the heart of the Iraqi citizens. Despite desperate
attempts by terrorists to destroy Iraq's future, by intimidation and other cowardly
terrorist acts, the Iraqis voted against terror and for democracy.

The Iraqi police stood firm, and they stayed at their posts and
terrorists tested their resolve. The MOI security forces responded, thwarting
attacks, and captured terrorists, some defended their country's future on the
expense of their life.

I must say that the police constable Abdul Amir Mohammed Kadhim was one of those officers who made the ultimate sacrifice. Abdul Amir identified a
suspicious man, who was rigged with an explosive belt. He chased him, and tackled the man, the terrorist detonated his belt, killing himself and the police
constable, Abdul Amir. Abdul Amir's acts of heroism of the scores of people
standing in the line to vote.

Desperate terrorist events even took the life of an innocent child who
had done nothing wrong. This child was fitted with an explosive vest and remotely
detonated on the child. The child was instantly killed, and were several
bystanders. Other Iraqi police showed up for work made polling centers --
(inaudible) -- secure for the voters, and protected Iraqi people from would-be
assassins.

Today we look forward to the future of the new Iraqi emerge. The new
Iraq will continue to be strong, have a (inaudible). Iraq will be steadfast and
intolerant of those terrorists who seek to destroy this great nation.

I wish to thank all of you who helped make this election a success.
May god bless you all, and may god bless Iraq. I will now take some of your
questions. The last point I would like to mention that I would like to thank the
multinational forces for the support they give us, and really without the
multinational forces we could not have done that by ourselves alone. Maybe we
would be able to do that in a much more better way next election, hopefully.

Thank you.

MR. WHITMAN: Thank you, Mr. Minister. We'll start with some questions.

Q: Mr. Minister, Charlie Aldinger with Reuters. Have recent U.S.
military and Iraqi security raids, are you depleting, or weakening the Zarqawi
support network? Are more of his senior supporters being arrested, and is it
making him less effective, or is he just as effective as before, and are you close
to capturing him?

MINISTER AL NAQIB: I must say that since August last year, we started
to build the special forces to deal with those terrorists. In two months the
forces have been able to do a lot of jobs. I must say that the last six weeks our
Iraqi and Ministry of Interior security forces, the special forces, have been able
to do a great job. We have arrested more than 350 terrorists in just three weeks,
the last three weeks before the election. So I must say, part of the success of
the election are the operations we have been able to do in the last six weeks. We
have weakened them very much, and we are continuing to weaken them, and hopefully in a very short period of time nobody will hear about Zarqawi or his group. Thank you.

Q: And the possible capture of Zarqawi, have you been close to
capturing him recently? Are there any incidents where you possibly came close to
arresting him recently?

MINISTER AL NAQIB: Well, actually, that very much depends on the
intelligence information. We are following him, I must say that. I think we missed
him twice or three times, but hopefully next time we will be able to capture him.

MR. WHITMAN: Yes, Bob.

Q: This is Bob Burns with Associated Press. I'd like to follow up on
just your last comment there. You said you missed him a couple of times. By that
do you mean that you had information about his precise location, and arrived too
late, or was there some sort of operation mounted against him?

MINISTER AL NAQIB: No. Actually, it's highly dependent on the
intelligence information. I think we arrived a bit late. That was just maybe we
missed him by one hour.

MR. WHITMAN: We didn't quite hear your answer, Mr. Minister. You were
talking about the fact that you believe that you may have arrived a little late in
these incidences, and then you said something after that.

MINISTER AL NAQIB: I said we missed by about one hour, maybe.
Something like that. You know, he's not staying in one place. He's moving from
one area to another. So we will get him, very soon hopefully.

Q: When did these incidences occur when you missed him, was it very
recently?

MINISTER AL NAQIB: That was about two weeks ago.

Q: That was my question.

MR. WHITMAN: Go ahead, Bob.

Q: One last thing on that, where or what location roughly, or
precisely?

MINISTER AL NAQIB: Well, I think I'll just keep it for the time
being. Once we will be able hopefully capture him, we'll release all the
information.

Q: Okay. Thanks.

Q: Mr. Minister, Donna Miles, American Forces Press Service. Can you
tell me with the recent increase in the last couple of days of violence following
the elections, what measures are you taking to step up security?

MINISTER AL NAQIB: Well, I think in the last couple of days after the
election the situation wasn't so bad, we expected worse than that. They're
planning, they think once we finish the elections our security forces will be
relaxed, and things will be much easier for them to do that. But, actually we
continue attacking their bases. We have arrested a number of them in the last
couple of days after the election, and we are continuing to do that. But, also, I
expect they are planning for something. We might see about some bad days in the
next couple of weeks.

Q: Mr. Minister, Al Pesam from Voice of America. We all know that
there's no timetable for the withdrawal of forces, that it will be condition
based. Can you tell us in general terms, sir, what sort of a timeframe are you
talking about, some draw down of foreign forces, perhaps, within six months or a
year, a significant reduction within a year or two years, can you give us some
broad strokes on that?

MINISTER AL NAQIB: I have been talking about that for a couple of
days. According to our plans, the Ministry of Interior's plans, in coordination
with our friends of the multinational forces, I think we will be able to have a
strong security, Iraqi security, a strong Ministry of Interior in Iraq, that can
control the security situation in Iraq in 18 months, and of course, controlling the
borders. Talking about the withdrawal of the multinational forces, that will be
maybe a political question, actually. But from my perspective, and my predictions
that we, as a the Ministry of Interior, if we will continue at the same speed we
have been doing for the last four months, I think we will be able to have a good
control over our internal security by the Iraqi forces.

Q: To take us back briefly -- this is Bob Burns from AP, take you back
briefly to your reference to having missed Zarqawi, one other question we had was, were you referring to an Iraqi operation, or was this a joint U.S.-Iraqi effort?

MINISTER AL NAQIB: Actually, in general we have most of our operations
coordinated with the multinational forces. Some of the small operations, security
operations have been held by the Iraqi forces, with the knowledge of the
multinational forces. We started already some of operations by ourselves, and we
have a good number of operations done by the Iraqi forces.

Q: These occasions where you missed Zarqawi, was that a joint
operation, or was that an Iraqi operation, security operation?

MINISTER AL NAQIB: I said I would like to speak about that once we
capture Zarqawi, hopefully it will be very soon.

Q: Donna Miles again. Mr. Minister, you said within 18 months you
expect the Iraqi security to be at the point where they can self- sustain. What
measure will you use to determine that they are, in fact, ready to do that?

MINISTER AL NAQIB: I couldn't understand the last bit of your
question, please?

MR. WHITMAN: I think if I may paraphrase, what are the measurements
that you will use to determine if in 18 months your forces are able to be
independent?

MINISTER AL NAQIB: First of all, we have to have a good control over
our borders. And we already redesigned our border forces. We started already in
just one month actually, and we're doing very well. I think we will need some time
until we have secured borders, maybe 12 months. For the internal security, there
are two parts of it, fighting terrorists. First of all, we have to have a good
intelligence organization to bring information. Then we have to have a good strong
force to deal with those terrorists, which we already started these forces on.
Also we started our intelligence organization. Then we will be able to get rid of
all the terrorist organizations in this country.

The other part is the regular police force. We are also redesigning
our police forces to modernize our police forces that they can deal with this
situation. Other administration things -- communications, passports, traffic
police -- also we are working on it. And in my estimate, based on the studies we
have, how much we have done, how long time we need to do and how much money we need to spend on this, so that was actually our estimate based on the studies we have already.

MR. WHITMAN: Go ahead.

Q: Al Pesam from VOA. We've heard about the plan to put thousands of
the American officers and enlisted men into training roles with your army and
police. We've also heard references to the need to build the skills and train the
people in the interior ministry and the defense ministry so that they can supervise
the military and the police. What sort of training is needed on the civilian side
of the management of your armed forces?

MINISTER AL NAQIB: Well, actually, we have been working a very good
training program lately. We have developed our training programs. There is the
basic training and the professional training. We have quite a number of people who
already have done their basic training. We have to start professional training.
We already started, actually, some of the professional training.

Also there is training as well in some of the operations, which has
been done by the Iraqi forces, the coordination with the multinational forces,
which it is also a part of the training programs, hopefully. And I must say that
we have a very good coordination with General Casey, which he's supporting all, and we have a very high level of coordination in many of the operations on security.

And also I have to mention that General Petraeus has been doing very
well in equipping and training our forces. And I must thank my senior adviser, Mr.
Steve Castille, which he made it very easy for us, especially in terms of
coordination between the ministry of interior and the multinational forces. And
that's a great help for us; and, of course, many other friends and generals who's
there who have been working with us very well.

Q: Training on the civilian side, in the ministries. What is the plan
for that?

MINISTER AL NAQIB: You mean the regular police, the civilian side?

Q: I mean the people in the ministries who will be responsible for
managing the army and the police.

MINISTER AL NAQIB: Yes, we have been doing very well, especially in
the special training courses. We are looking for a modern ministry of interior
using the latest technology and management and administrations. We have been doing very well in this sector. And I think we are in a stage to redesign the ministry of interior according to the situation we are in.

There are many people who have been trained for management, computers and other skills, and especially the telecommunications, which is vital and very important for us.

MR. WHITMAN: Well, Mr. Minister, we want to be respectful of your
time, and we do appreciate you taking the time this morning to give us an update on the security forces. And we'd just like to once again congratulate you on the
historic events of the last couple of days and wish you the best as you go forward
with the ministry of interior. Thank you very much.

MINISTER AL NAQIB: Thank you very much indeed. Thank you.



C) COPYRIGHT 2005, FEDERAL NEWS SERVICE, INC., 1000 VERMONT AVE. NW; 5TH FLOOR;
WASHINGTON, DC - 20005, USA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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Shiite Coalition Takes a Big Lead in Early Vote Count in
Iraq
By JOHN F. BURNS and DEXTER FILKINS
Preliminary returns showed that religious groups with links
to Iran were ahead of the alliance led by Prime Minister
Ayad Allawi.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/04/internat.../04iraq.html?th

Interactive Feature: Early Results in Iraq
With 1.6 million votes counted, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani's slate has a strong lead over Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's party.
http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/inter...uble_02.html?th

--------------------
Shiites Lead in Partial Results; Violence Resumes
--------------------

By Patrick J. McDonnell
Times Staff Writer

February 4 2005

BAGHDAD — Violence in Iraq has surged after a postelection lull, authorities said Thursday, as partial results from six of Iraq's 18 provinces show the powerful Shiite Muslim ticket linked to the nation's leading ayatollah making a strong run for seats in the transitional national assembly.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...headlines-world

--------------------
How Will the U.S. Know When to Pass the Baton?
--------------------

By Mark Mazzetti
Times Staff Writer

February 4 2005

WASHINGTON — In addressing Congress and the nation this week, President Bush spelled out his idea for an "exit strategy" from Iraq: U.S. troops can begin pulling out as soon as new Iraqi security forces are strong enough to keep the peace themselves.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...headlines-world

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle...sp?story=607555

Allawi faces defeat as Iraqi cleric's team leads the polls

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...MNGMUB49GN1.DTL

Top Shiites push for an Islamic constitution. Large vote turnout boosts aspirations of religious coalition

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticl..._IRAQ-THURS.xml

Militants ambush Iraqi police convoy