Call me rash

Why should you bother listening to a humble student journalist's opinion on something like Iraq? What does it matter...is there any merit to it? No, but I'm giving it anyway because, like I said before, I need some placeholder posting for now.

For what it's worth, here's my prediction regarding the elections in Iraq:

They will happen with little or no hitch. People will turn out in droves; the people will make a very big statement. The media will look frantically for "disfranchisement" and discontent among the voters. Most Iraqis will say, "it's worth the trouble and risk. I've been waiting for this all my life."

The Iraqis will elect someone (who is something I cannot predict), and the world will heave a sigh of relief.

End of prediction.

I'm ready to eat my words... I don't really have anything to lose at this point in my blogging experience and there's no reputation at stake. The fact is, the supermajority of people in and around Baghdad say that security issues will not keep them from the polls. See this poll translation.

To top it all off, the Palestinian’s have just elected a new leader amid great optimism. This should do everything to encourage the people of Iraq to participate in their own elections.

I believe the worst thing that could happen would what Prime Minister Allawi called an "imperfect" election... Or, in other words, "if we don't get it perfect, we will next time." The important thing is to make the statement.