Your move, Saddam

As predicted, the Iraqi Parlimentary elections were a big hit. Turnout was huge even in the Sunni triangle, a cesspit of insurgency. The quiet scene to the left was a polling station in the Sunni triangle, where turnout was as high as 80 percent.

We've been told by such media giants as Newsweek that Saddam orchestrated the insurgency before the invasion, holding back his best Sunni/Ba'athist leaders and troops and pre-positioning ammo. He allowed many of his Shiite-filled brigades to take the brunt of the American forces, which is one reason we cake-walked into Baghdad.

Saddam's insurgency has been working fairly well to date. Many here in America have certainly been in the process of blinking of late, which was the intention. Saddam's been doing his part as well. He remained hidden as long as possible, secretly running the show through instructions handed to his right-hand man Izzat al-Douri, until our forces "got him".

Since then his gameplan has been to stall the legal process as much as possible, which he's done through assassinating members of his own defense team and getting people like Ramsey Clark to run interference.

But what now? Several voters characterized the vote today as their final victory over Saddam, "this is the day to get our revenge from Saddam," said Kurdish voter Chiman Saleh, a Kirkuk housewife who said two of her brothers were killed by the ousted regime. If Saddam's henchmen still have influence, how will they counter this?

The trial starts again next week. We'll soon see if Saddam's courtroom antics are half as animated as before. My prediction is that the tactic will change to attack--the courtroom first followed by more terrorism. Saddam is no stranger to the eight-ball.

FURTHER THOUGHTS 12/15

Is there a possibility the Democrats launched a pre-emptive attack on the Iraq war a few weeks ago? Murtha was the centerpiece for a large scale assault, orchestrated by Reid (and probably the Clintons behind the scene). Some at the time wondered why the democrats didn't wait until after the elections to voice their concerns.

Perhaps we'll find out soon. A successful election followed by an orderly conviction and public hanging of Saddam will greatly improve stability, eroding the democrats' primary criticism of the administration. Theoretically, improving security will allow Bush to drawn down forces in 2006, a crucial Congressional election year.

Therefore it seems a huge gamble for the dems to huddle up and call for America to punt on first and ten from the forty yard line. If the above is correct it suggests that much is riding on the ability of Saddam's instigators to further destablize the country in the coming months.

And my, my, isn't international human rights activist Ramsey Clark in a spot. He'll soon come across to the Iraqi people as someone more interested in 'dictator's rights' than rights of self determination. Sounds like the time to whine about death threats, scream about unfairness, then run not walk to catch the next flight to the hills.

Saddam seems to have two choices now, ramped up violence or simply giving up and trying for the theatrical exit like some kind of Arabic Braveheart.

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On Bush's mea culpa yesterday...the timing was indeed interesting, since the elections were a day away. The White House probably figured the elections would dominate Iraq news, followed again shortly by Saddam's trial. It was the right time to admit some mistakes, which can later be pointed to when the dems accuse the administration of ignoring the facts.