Articles 2.13.2005

The Honolulu Advertiser carries another "Dispatch from Iraq" written by Lt. Tad Tsuneyoshi, of the 1-503rd. Lt. Tsuneyoshi recounts the efforts and clashes during the weeks leading up to the Jan 30 election in Ramadi. He examines the focused missions on meeting citizens face to face to discuss the importance of the elections, describes many of the firefights (some of which led to the deaths of his fellow soldiers), and speculates on the tenuous future in Ramadi, calling it a "jack-in-the-box" -- while saying "things have slowed down" since the election, he states that "we continue to push out every day. Every mission, we are unsure if this will be the turn that "Jack" pops out."
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The Ft. Carson 2nd BCT Forward Detachment site links to an article of the Ft. Carson Mountaineer newsletter (pdf format). The article on the main page describes the farewell ceremony for the 2nd BCT 1st Replacement Company, which left Ft. Carson on 1.19.2005 to "join the rest of the 2nd BCT Soldiers in Ar Ramadi, Fallujah and Al Habbaniyah." The 67 soldiers trained for two months at Ft. Carson before deploying.
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The Associated Press reports that the election results are in, with the Shiites dominating the elections. One quote: "The figures also indicate that many Sunni Arabs stayed at home on election day, with only 17,893 votes — or 2% — cast in the National Assembly race in Anbar province, a stronghold of the Sunni Muslim insurgency." Overall, the voter turnout was 60%.
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Other articles from the region:
- Newsweek: Now that Iraq's ballots are all in, the real campaign has begun.
- BBC: Shia parties win Iraqi election
- LA Times (reg req'd): Postelection Optimism Ebbing in Iraq
- LA Times (reg req'd): Unarmored Military Vehicles to Be Restricted in Iraq
- NY Times (reg req'd): Iraqi Insurgents Step Up Attacks After Elections