The "Committee of Islamic Religious People" which is the front group for Sunni insurgents in Iraq asked the U.S. military for a ceasefire concerning election day but the American commanders rejected the idea in early January when it was brought to them. This proposal included such things as U.S. military forces withdrawing from Iraq in 3 years and withdrawing from urban areas in 6 months. The Islamic front group also said that if the proposal was accepted then the group would no longer attack the U.S. military including Allawi's Iraqi military
and police. American fighter jets flew over Baghdad on Saturday in a show of force right after fighting broke out with insurgents on a city highway. For the election day weekend the U.S. military threatened to shoot anyone on sight who broke a curfew imposed after dark over the entire country. Voter turnout was rather high in Kurdish areas and in the Shia Muslim south. Voter turnout was very low in the Sunni region of Iraq with some polling stations being closed in
Falluja, Samarra and Ramadi. Is that democracy? On election day, explosions in Iraq have killed around 25 people so far. As voting began in Baghdad, suicide bombings occurred and the city was also struck with mortars. A British military transport plane crashed outside of Baghdad at 5:25 PM Sunday and fighting is reported in southern Baquba. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi claimed responsibility for some of the violence. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Iraq has made a "huge step forward". Reality tells us a different story.