Iraq elections set stage for deeper crisis -WSWS article - good

[baby_bear]

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/jan2005/iraq-j31.shtml

Iraq elections set stage for deeper crisis of US occupation regime

By Patrick Martin
31 January 2005

I can't do this article justice with snips - it is long and very good - but there is one item I want to bring attention to. I kept wondering why did the voters REALLY have a finger dipped in bright ink? I was told that it was to prevent double voting, but that didn't fly with me. Here's a different take, and one that makes sense when you also consider reports that Iraqis were threatened with having their food rations stopped if they didn't vote.

<snip>
There is evidence of direct intimidation of Iraqis by the US military in the course of election day. American soldiers were reported going through the city of Mosul, largely Sunni-populated and a center of insurgent resistance, and seeking out Iraqi non-voters, who could easily be identified by the absence of a semi-permanent ink stain on the thumb. Any Iraqi without such proof of voting was subjected to questioning as to why he had not voted—and no doubt, had his name entered on US intelligence lists of suspected supporters of the resistance, targeted for future arrest or attack.

</snip>

What a farce. Do try to read the whole article. It's got a lot of information in it that you won't be seeing in the domestic newspapers, no doubt.

b_b

[LibertyorDeath]

1. Thanks Bookmarked for later today.

[poe]

2. reverse fingerprinting-these boys don't let up

heads up folks. if you did not get tagged at the inquisitors table uh, voting station, you are guilty.

[ClayZ]

3. I bet non-voters are looking for blackberries today in Iraq.

heh heh heh!

[GetTheRightVote]

4. This is all so sick, really, really just sick

:kick:

[Igel]

5. Must be why the UN wanted the finger-dipping process in

Afghanistan.

Didn't the UN provide logistic support and advice (granted, only 35 staffers) in Iraq?

[baby_bear]

6. I wasn't aware of this in Afghanistan

What could possibly be a legitimate reason for finger-dipping?

I won't even let people at the door of a nightclub stamp my hand to prove I've paid.

Maybe it makes me think of the ID numbers tatooed on Jews in Germany.

Or branded cows on a ranch.

Either way, it's not right.

b_b

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.