i don't get why every death in iraq is reported as "pre-election violence" or a "pre-poll attack" as yahoo did today. it's accurate, of course, this violence is happening before the january 30th election. but for that matter so was the ottoman invasion.
by linking the attacks to the election in these headlines, they are implying that the violence is in reaction to the election. maybe some attacks are, but its pretty clear that all of them are not. before the election date was scheduled last year, iraq was hardly quiet and peaceful. but in those days the headlines linked the violence to the june 30th alleged handover of sovereignty. never mind that the violence increased rather than decreased after that date. the "pre-handover spike" morphed flawlessly into the "post-handover spike" and then onwards to the "pre [american] election spike" and now to the "pre-[iraqi] election spike." we all sit on the edge of our seats to find out what new exciting spikes the spinners will come up with next. i'm predicting a post-election spike, then a pre-constitutional convention spike. unfortunately, i see no sign of a pre-u.s. troop withdraw spike.
i'm kidding, of course. which is not really appropriate as we are talking about people's death. many of these deaths, i suspect, are the result of violence that is not linked to any sovereignty plan or election at all. the obvious cause is staring us all in the face. this is all post-u.s. invasion and occupation violence. if only the headlines could mention that.
