I blogged last night that the pending elections have the terrorists fighting not only the American and Iraqi forces but also the clock in Iraq. Today, the terrorists made it quite obvious that they know and fear this.
An Islamic militant group in Iraq warned Muslims to skip the country’s coming elections, and said anyone who runs for office would be branded an infidel and “punished in the name of God.”
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The militant group, Ansar al-Sunna, said in a statement published on its Web site: “We ask all Muslims to respond to God’s calling and avoid showing up at the election posts.”
The group warned that voting sites would be targeted “because they are infidel posts.”
Iraq’s interim government plans to hold elections for a transitional parliament in January, and the offensive against insurgents in Falluja was meant to restore interim government control over that area ahead of the vote.
“We warn everyone who will run in this election that by doing so, he chose to be an infidel and that he will be punished in the name of God,” Ansar al-Sunna said. “The same will go to the American crusaders and their allies, their collaborators who support these elections.”
The group claimed responsibility for the October killing of a Kurdish police chief in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil, calling it a warning to Kurdistan Democratic Party leader Massoud Barzani. The militants consider Kurdish leaders traitors for cooperating with U.S.-led forces in the invasion of Iraq.
It also claimed responsibility for the killings of three KDP members in September and 12 Nepalese contractors in August.
The group said elections were meant “to deceive the people that they are free and that they can elect their own president and government in a democratic and free approach.” It also denounced efforts to bring democracy to Iraq as an “infidel curriculum.”
The statement said Muslims had a duty to fight U.S. troops and “to work on establishing the rule of God in our country.”
These are not hollow threats, as the terrorists in Iraq are more capable and more internationally supported than their counterparts who could not affect the Afghan elections in October. It should be noted, though, that every suicide attack, every dead terrorist, every bit of arms seized between now and the election is a hit on the impact the Islamists and Saddamists can have immediately prior to and on election day. However, to lay low, bide their time and conserve their assets would be counterproductive to their need to maintain an atmosphere of terror and lawlessness. The coalition’s efforts are against them, time is against them, and the Iraqi people are not for them.
If you’ve ever wondered how Denzel Washington’s character in the movie Fallen felt as the evil spirit Azazel hopped from person to person, each in turn hauntingly serenading Denzel with the Stones’ Time Is On My Side, ask one of the Islamists in Iraq. (Great, now that song’s stuck in my head. Damn you, Azazel!)