One week remains until the Iraq election, in which 16 million registered voters will risk life and limb in order to elect their 'transitional' legislative body, from a long list of parties whose names are not known (not to mention any of their platforms). So, uh, good luck. Personally, this does not bode well for either the Iraqi people or us. It looks like we're headed for disaster here, with 20% of the population already effectively nullified (after the Sunni parties pledged to not take part), and a sectarian civil war appearing nearly imminent, as many commentators have noted. I guess we'll have to see, then, but I hope the new government will be recognized as legitimate, and the elections free and fair and not just seen as such. But this, I admit, is a tall order for a country in the middle of war with no real democratic tradition whatsoever. At least we're putting in place a process, so it doesn't matter if only 50,000 people actually vote, right? Of course ...