Bush declares victory!

This is the update I kept seeing on the CNN news trackers yesterday.

How is this a victory for him? If anything the Iraqis that did vote want an elected government that will ask us to leave.

In any case, who is to say how many voted, who they voted for and what this all really means? It seems a little bit early to start beating our chest about an earthquake of freedom in the middle east quite yet.

Juan Cole as usual puts some things in perspective:

"First they were going to turn Iraq over to Chalabi within six months. Then Bremer was going to be MacArthur in Baghdad for years. Then on November 15, 2003, Bremer announced a plan to have council-based elections in May of 2004.

The US and the UK had somehow massaged into being provincial and municipal governing councils, the members of which were pro-American. Bremer was going to restrict the electorate to this small, elite group.

Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani immediately gave a fatwa denouncing this plan and demanding free elections mandated by a UN Security Council resolution. Bush was reportedly "extremely offended" at these two demands and opposed Sistani.

Bremer got his appointed Interim Governing Council to go along in fighting Sistani. Sistani then brought thousands of protesters into the streets in January of 2004, demanding free elections. Soon thereafter, Bush caved and gave the ayatollah everything he demanded."

Fallujah freedom?
Condi Rice was on FOX yesterday fielding those hard hitting questions. Accroding to her, they're voting in droves in Fallujah.

Cole says:

"The idea, mentioned by Condoleeza Rice on Sunday, that any significant number of Fallujans voted, is absurd and insulting. Most of the 250,000 Fallujans are still in exile, and the city is still occasionally the scene of fighting.

There are reports of some voting in refugee camps outside the city. It is almost certainly motivated by a desire to have a legitimate, elected government that could effectively demand a US withdrawal. "

Condi says it went "better than expected."

Compared to a normal day in most of Iraq, I guess that's right.

Only 44 civilians dead and 70 injured in over 170 attcks around the country. Oh, and one British C-130 transport plane shot down.

AFP says:

LONDON (AFP) - Britain said that 10 military personnel died in the crash of a military transport plane in Iraq but that it was too early to comment on claims it was shot down by Islamic militants.

British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon said in a statement "we are aware of reports that the aircraft may have been shot down, but we are not in a position to come to any conclusions until the investigation is complete."

Hoon said that nine Royal Air Force personnel and one soldier were missing believed dead following the crash of the RAF C-130 Hercules northwest of Baghdad.

However, al-Jazeera reports:

"al-Jazeera has aired a video showing a purported Iraqi group firing missiles at the British C-130 transport plane which crashed on Sunday afternoon northwest of Baghdad.

The video, issued by the military wing of the 1920 Revolution Brigades, also showed an explosion at a distance and what appeared to be the debris of a plane on the ground.

Aljazeera said on Monday it had received a copy of the tape from the group."

Allawi's message to insurgents.

UPI reports the march of freedom might be a little bumpy if the mainstream media ever picks up this story.

Baghdad, Iraq, Jul. 16 (UPI) -- Iraqi Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi killed six suspected insurgents just days before he was handed power, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

The report cites two witnesses to the killing who say Allawi fatally shot the prisoners, who were handcuffed, blindfolded and lined up against a wall in a courtyard near the maximum-security facility at al-Amariyah security centre near Baghdad. They quoted Allawi as saying the men "deserved worse than death" because each had killed some 50 Iraqis.

The newspaper added the killings were seen by about a dozen Iraqi police and four Americans from Allawi's security team. Interior Minister Falah al-Naqib, another alleged witness, is said to have congratulated Allawi.

The newspaper quoted witnesses as saying Allwai told those present he wanted to send a clear message to police on how to deal with insurgents."