Abazaid Predicts Flawed Iraqi Elections (compares to Selection 2000)

[Barrett808]

Abazaid Predicts Flawed Iraqi Elections
By LAURA MECKLER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - The top U.S. military commander for Iraq (news - web sites) said Sunday he expected flawed elections and much violence ahead of the voting scheduled for January.

Gen. John Abazaid's assessment followed a week in which President Bush (news - web sites) and Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi spoke optimistically about the situation despite the beheadings of two more Americans and the deaths of dozens of people in car bombings. On Friday, the military said four Marines died in separate incidents, adding to a toll that has topped 1,000 since the U.S.-led invasion.

Abazaid, commander of U.S. troops in the Middle East, said the elections will be carried out. But he warned that voting may not be possible in parts of Iraq where the violence is too intense.

"I don't think we'll ever achieve perfection and when we look for perfection in a combat zone we're going to be sadly disappointed," he said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Abazaid compared the situation in Iraq to the disputed U.S. presidential election in 2000 that put George W. Bush in the White House following a protracted fight that ended up in the Supreme Court.

"I don't think Iraq will have a perfect election. And if I recall, looking back at our own election four years ago, it wasn't perfect either," he said.

He predicted that in Iraq, there will be voting in the "vast majority of the country."

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