Let the voting begin

Iraq | Despite violence and suffering, Iraqis have reason to be hopeful as they head to the polls. Here's a balloting preview | Mindy Belz

Come Jan. 30 when Iraqi voters go to the polls for the first multiparty election since 1924, the insurgents, terrorists, and other gangsters who have made life miserable in the country’s Sunni corridor will have a big problem. If they follow through with threats to disrupt the elections and attack Iraqis at the polls, their strategy will be just another form of self-immolation. By hitting the most likely targets, those within their own strongholds, they will ensure low voter response in the only areas where they stand to gain on Election Day.

Violence in Iraq grabs headlines, but the ground advantage belongs to the pro-election Shiites and Kurds, who control most of Iraq’s geography and stand to win the most from successful polling, having been long excluded from power by the Baathist regime of Saddam Hussein.