Iraq and Afghanistan

The Association of Muslim Scholars announced earlier this week that all Iraqis should boycott the elections unless attacks on Falluja or similar American offenses were stopped. The Association is said to represent 3000 Sunni mosques. This announcement came at the time that negotiations to avert the American attacks seemed to be on again, off again. The Association particularly attacked Allawi for insisting on “impossible conditions” for calling off the attack. They objected to the demand that the Fallujans turn over Zarqawi when (they claim) he is not in Falluja. I am sure that many Sunnis are upset by every bomb that falls on Falluja, but we are not really sure of the effect elsewhere.

This morning we had news that the United Nations (only 14 persons in country) has developed with the Iraqis what appears to be an excellent registration system, given the circumstances. They plan to use the country’s food distribution rolls as a basis for registration. The coverage of this system is nearly universal, and government food distribution continues even in Falluja. The electoral administration intends to use the occasion of people coming in for their November food ration for a creative form of registration. Each person with his or her food will be given a piece of paper giving the number of eligible voters in the family. That person is then to correct the list as necessary and hand it back. As I understand it, this will serve as a registration. The clever part of it is that it means that no one will be seen going into an office specifically to register, an action that could be dangerous in some areas. Relying on this method one can begin to understand how some Iraqis assert that they will be able to have a reasonable vote everywhere in the country in spite of the problems.