Ahead of the elections to be held today, insurgents in Iraq fired a rocket into the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad on Saturday in an attack that killed two Americans and wounded five others. Despite the overnight curfews that are in effect in Iraq, on Saturday a suicide bomber killed eight in Khanaqin, while mortar and machine gun fire continued to ring through the capital.

If the Americans are hoping to hear the true voice of the Iraqi population and its 14 million eligible voters through this election, the prospects are grim; according to a poll conducted by Zogby International, a staggering 76 percent of Iraqi Sunni Arabs, who are the populational minority, declared that they “definitely would not vote,” while only a feeble 9 percent expressed their intention to cast their ballot. In stark contrast, the same poll revealed that 80 percent of Shiites claimed they will likely or definitely vote.  

What the Iraqis are even voting for is somewhat confusing. The Iraqis are electing a 275-member national assembly, whose task it will be to write the permanent Iraqi constitution. This 275-member assembly isn’t to be confused with the permanent assembly — there will be another election in December to choose a permanent national assembly. Additionally, the Iraqis are voting on provincial parliaments, while the Kurdish population in the north of the country is selecting candidates for the Kurdish regional government, which was set up in the aftermath of the 1991 Persian Gulf war.

Some American politicians have abandoned even the pretense of a safe and inclusive Iraqi election. Speaking from the comfort of the haven of Davos, Switzerland, where the World Economic Forum is being held, Senator John McCain admitted that some “some pretty horrific things” may occur today in Iraq. Easy for you to say, Senator; even as you speak, the Iraqis are dying for democracy.  

Mimi Hanaoka