The Senescent Man

From today's (Monday's) Opinion Journal, the results of a recent poll in Iraq concerning their future:

What will you base your vote on?

Political agenda - 65%
Factional origin - 14%
Party Affiliation - 4%
National Background - 12%
Other reasons - 5%

Do you support dialog with the deposed Baathists?

Yes - 15%
No - 84%
Do not know - 1%

Do you support postponing the election?

Yes - 18%
No - 80%
Do not know - 2%

Do you think the elections will take place as scheduled?

Yes - 83%
No - 13%
Do not know - 4%

The poll was taken of 5,000 people in and around Baghdad, giving the poll an accuracy of +/- 1.5%.

Also, a message to the Iraqi people from Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai:

"They must go to polls. They must take this opportunity, elect their people to parliament, and have a government of their own, and have peace. . . . The major lesson in Afghanistan was that the Afghan people wanted change, from the tyranny of terrorism. The Iraqi people also will gain nothing if they allow these people to come from outside and destroy their lives."