Word: iraq
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That's accurate. The parties are running their campaigns in large part on substantive issues: most important, whether power in Iraq should be more centralized in the hands of the government in Baghdad or dispersed to its provinces and regions. The centralizers include al-Maliki's Shi'ite-dominated State of Law coalition, which is running on its record of providing security and disarming Iraq's militias. The more Sunni and secular Iraqi National Movement, led by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, is likewise in favor of a strong central government. The push for decentralization is represented by the ruling...
...pictures of President Obama in Iraq...
...TIME photographer's Iraq diary...
...Virtues of Compromise These issues are political dynamite. Devolving power to Kurdistan or to the Shi'ite south - the two safest, richest parts of Iraq - could reignite the civil war between Shi'ites and Sunnis or start an additional one between Arabs and Kurds. But to centralize all power in a country with a history of totalitarianism has its own perils. That's why Iraqis will be watching their elections closely: not just to see the results but also to gauge whether their leadership class can accept the outcome of the vote and move forward peacefully. That will...
There is plenty of reason to be concerned that Iraq's leaders haven't yet learned to compromise. None of the five leading political blocs are likely to emerge from the election with enough seats in parliament to form a government on their own - which means Iraqis may have to endure weeks of political wheeling and dealing. Meanwhile, Iraq's undercurrent of violence and sectarianism is resurfacing as the election nears. Dozens of bodies are turning up daily in the morgues of Baghdad and Mosul, including some with their heads cut off, a signature al-Qaeda calling card. Mortar shells...