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The Washington Post:
An overwhelming majority of Iraqis continue to say they intend to vote on Jan. 30 even as insurgents press attacks aimed at rendering the elections a failure, according to a new public opinion survey. The poll, conducted in late December and early January for the International Republican Institute, found 80 percent of respondents saying they were likely to vote, a rate that has held roughly steady for months."Despite the efforts of the terrorists, Iraqis remain committed to casting their vote on election day," IRI President Lorne Craner said in a statement. The organization, which is funded by Congress through the National Endowment for Democracy and the U.S. Agency for International Development, commissioned the poll, which surveyed 1,900 Iraqis in all but two of the country's 18 provinces. Poor security made two in the far north, Nineveh and Dohuk, inaccessible. The margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Which is wonderful, but says nothing as to what the results might be. The upcoming Iraqi elections are beyond any doubt the most unpredictable such an event in the history of mankind, and there's a palpable sense of the unknown in the air here as the appointed day approaches. Most of us realize that regardless of who is in power here in a very few weeks the US position will be fundamentally changed. How? We don't know. Will they demand our exit? Probably not - but we don't know. An amazing position for the US to be in; supporting free elections in a country, the result of which might not necessarily be favorable.
But what if they are? How will the world left respond to a resounding victory for democracy? Wretchard has some early indicators here, here, and here.
