Watching the Iraqi Elections

Newswise — Elections in Iraq are set for Jan. 30, but analysts are watching to see whether the minority Sunni Muslims will participate or carry out their threat to boycott the elections. "If the Sunnis don't vote," said UAB political scientist Carlos Yordan, Ph.D., "the process won't be legitimate. That could lead to civil war breaking out while under U.S. occupation or after U.S. troops leave Iraq, which is scheduled for 2006. The elections should be postponed until after the Sunni, Shiite and Kurd parties work out their disagreements through negotiations," Yordan said. The U.N., however, should play a bigger role than the United States in those negotiations, he says, since many Iraqis blame the United States for the current violence in the region.