Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=1/2/05

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=US / IRAQ (L-O)

NUMBER=2-321481

BYLINE=MICHAEL BOWMAN

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

CONTENT=

HEADLINE: U.S. Lawmakers Cautiously Optimistic about Iraqi Elections

INTRO: Four weeks before historic national elections in Iraq, U.S. lawmakers of both parties are voicing cautious optimism about prospects for a successful, if imperfect, democratic exercise in the violence-wracked nation. From Washington, VOA's Michael Bowman reports.

TEXT: Joseph Lieberman is one of a handful of Democratic Party senators who remains a stalwart defender of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq to oust Saddam Hussein. Speaking on ABC's "This Week" program, Senator Lieberman said the month of January will bring, in his words, "historic transformation in the Middle East," with Palestinians choosing a president January ninth and Iraqis holding nation elections on January 30th.

Mr. Lieberman recently visited Iraq, and says he came away encouraged about the prospects for a successful election.

/// LIEBERMAN ACT ///

"I think there is going to be a great turn-out [of voters] in the two-thirds of the country that is made up mostly of Shia and Kurds, and I think there is going to be a surprisingly good turn-out among the Sunnis who want to come out and vote."

/// END ACT ///

Senator Lieberman said it would be a mistake to postpone the balloting, as some Iraqi Sunni politicians have urged.

Mr. Lieberman acknowledged violence continues to plague election preparations, but said the vast number of Iraqis are eager to go to the polls.

/// LIEBERMAN ACT ///

"The violence [in Iraq] is being carried out by a group of Saddam Hussein leftovers and by al-Qaida-related terrorists. They represent several thousand people out of a population of 25-million. They do not have popular support. The Iraqi people want to vote."

/// END ACT ///

Similar optimism was voiced by Republican Dick Lugar, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee, who spoke on Fox News Sunday.

/// LUGAR ACT ///

"It would be very helpful if Sunnis participated in large numbers. The good news is that [voter] registration last week in Iraq was very substantial. I understand two-point-one-million people came onto the rolls. This was all over the country."

/// END ACT ///

A cautionary note was sounded by Michigan Democratic Senator Carl Levin, who said that Iraq's neighbors can boost the chances for successful elections by what they say today.

/// LEVIN ACT ///

"That even though this election is going to have a lot of problems in terms of security, that Jordan plans on recognizing the outcome of this election - it takes away any excuses for Sunni leadership to boycott this election. We need that from the king of Jordan. We need that from Saudi leadership. We need that from Muslim countries."

/// END ACT ///

Mr. Levin added that, so far, such statements have not been forthcoming.

Iraq observers say the elections are likely to produce a Shiite leadership sympathetic to, or possibly allied with Iran, a nation President Bush once described as part of an "axis of evil." But Secretary of State Colin Powell predicted Iraq's Shiite population will, as he put it, "stand on their own two feet," and argued for faith in the democratic process.

/// POWELL ACT ///

"What we have to do is look forward, and have a successful election, allow the Iraqi people to decide. The Saddam Hussein regime is gone, just as the Taleban regime in Afghanistan is gone. We have gotten rid of two terrible dictatorships, and what we have to do in 2005 is build democracy."

/// END ACT ///

Mr. Powell spoke on NBC's "Meet the Press" program. (SIGNED)

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