Iraq's free elections

[2pac Shakur]

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq (news - web sites)'s leading parties said on Sunday they had failed to reach a deal to form a new government before the first meeting of parliament, crushing hopes a much-needed cabinet would start to tackle relentless violence.

Iraqi Deputy President Rowsch Shways said talks between the Shi'ite alliance that won landmark elections and Kurds who came second would resume after parliament's opening session on Wednesday to hammer out differences.

"The talks will continue and there are some important points that deserve more discussion," Fouad Massoum, a Kurd and interim parliamentary speaker, said in the northern city of Arbil.

Some of his party's members were less optimistic. Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani's chief aide said: "The negotiations between the two sides have hit a dead end."

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp.../ts_nm/iraq_dc

Free elections = casting votes within a narrow set of parameters established by an occupying foreign power. These votes lead to no change on the ground, but good PR in the occupying nation's media.


Free elections - bought and paid for by the USA.

Wave them flags.

[2pac Shakur]

The standoff plays into the hands of interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, whose cabinet could now remain in a caretaker role until a general election due at the end of the year.

Go figure.