BAGHDAD — Defying a sustained barrage of mortars and rockets in Baghdad and other cities, Iraqis went to the polls in strength on Sunday to choose a new Parliament meant to outlast the American military presence here.

“Iraqis are not afraid of bombs anymore,” said Maliq Bedawi, 45, defiantly waving his finger, stained with purple ink, to indicate he had voted, as he stood near the rubble of an apartment building in Baghdad hit by a huge rocket in the deadliest attack of the day.

Insurgents here vowed to disrupt the election, and the concerted wave of attacks — as many as 100 thunderous blasts in the capital alone starting just before the polls opened — did frighten voters away, but only initially.

The shrugging response of voters could signal a fundamental weakening of the insurgency’s potency. At least 38 people were killed in Baghdad. But by day’s end, turnout was higher than expected, and certainly higher than in the last parliamentary election in 2005, marred by a similar level of violence.

Official results are not expected for at least a few days.

Sunnis who largely boycotted previous elections voted in force, and an intense competition for Shiite votes drove up participation in Baghdad and the south, election observers said.

After seven years of a war whose rationale is deeply disputed in the United States, the Obama administration viewed the vote as a test of Iraq’s stability, a last milestone before the final withdrawal of American troops.

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Iraq Election, a New Beginning

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BAGHDAD — A concerted wave of attacks struck Baghdad and other cities across the country on Sunday as Iraqis began voting to elect a new parliament and possibly a new prime minister. Explosions reverberated across the capital even before the polls opened and continued through the morning haze for the first hours of voting.

Insurgents in Iraq had vowed to disrupt the election, and the attacks appeared timed to frighten voters away from polling sites. Mortars fell in neighborhoods across Baghdad, including at least three in the Green Zone, where government ministries and embassies are clustered, while and embassies are clustered, while bombs exploded elsewhere. Two bombs struck apartment buildings, destroying them.

At least 5 people were killed and 16 wounded before polls had been opened 90 minutes, according to the Ministry of the Interior, citing preliminary reports.

“This is the security that Maliki brings to us,” a woman in Karrada, on the eastern bank of the Tigris River, said, referring to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki. She said she was fleeing with her son, though it was not clear to where.

Mr. Maliki cast his ballot in the Green Zone even as explosions rumbled like thunderclaps. In a televised interview, Mr. Maliki expressed optimism that the turnout would not be diminished by the violence. “We have high hopes for democracy,” he said in remarks broadcast on state television. “There are some people trying to hinder it.”

By morning only small crowds appeared at polling stations in Baghdad, though it was too early to judge the ultimate turnout. One voter was defiant. “We’re Iraqis,” Abdul Azak said, voting with his wife and baby. “We’re not afraid.”

The attacks appeared to unite Iraq leaders. “These are the messengers of Iraq’s enemies, the enemies of democracy,” said Ammar al-Hakim, a leader of a Shiite coalition, the Iraqi National Alliance, that hopes to deny Mr. Maliki a second term. “It is a desperate and weak message.”

The violence was not limited to Baghdad. In Anbar province, west of the capital, at least 10 explosions rang through the city of Falluja at 8 a.m. The police there said they were mortars fired from the outskirts of the city.

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See Bloc Takes On Entrenched Kurdish Parties in Iraq, The New York Times, March 6, 2010, by Sam Dagher.

Iraqis living in Iran head to polls

Al Jazeera English
March 6, 2010 — 2:35

Iraq Passes Crucial Election Law, © The New York Times, November 8, 2009, by Timothy Williams and Sa’ad Izzi, excerpt quoted verbatim:

“BAGHDAD — After weeks of political stalemate, Iraq approved a law on Sunday to administer a critical national election in January, a significant milestone for its fragile democracy and a step that will allow the rapid withdrawal of American combat forces early next year.

“The election, only the second national vote since the fall of Saddam Hussein, will be a crucial step toward popular sovereignty and stability in Iraq. But the election law had been stymied by a political battle over the northern province of Kirkuk, claimed by Kurds, Arabs and Turkmens, each of whom hoped electoral power would give them control of the region’s oil wealth.

“The compromise reached Sunday, which satisfied all three groups, was hailed by Iraqi and American leaders as a triumph for Iraq’s emerging democracy and a demonstration of Parliament’s ability to resolve sticky sectarian disputes for the national benefit.”

…SNIP…

“American military commanders have said they intend to begin a rapid withdrawal of the 120,000 American troops still in Iraq after the election. The United States has pledged to withdraw all combat forces from Iraq by the end of next August, leaving about 50,000 troops in an advisory and support role. All American troops are scheduled to leave the country by the end of 2011.

“After the vote, the American ambassador to Iraq, Christopher R. Hill, said the withdrawal would proceed as planned. ‘What is important is that with the election law, we are very much on schedule for the drawdown,’ he said.

“American and Iraqi officials hope the election will cement democracy here at a time when many people have grown discontented with their leadership and fed up with continued violence, corruption and high unemployment.

“The previous parliamentary vote, in 2005, was boycotted by many Sunni Arabs, an act that allowed the insurgency to fester and fueled subsequent sectarian bloodshed. This time, each of the major political parties and Iraqi’s major religious and ethnic groups have all said they will participate.” ….

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