Just a Bit of Neglect

I am still working on day two of my summary from the events of January 14th to January 16th. I would say I am about half way done with day two, and I will probably keep day three off of here for personal reasons.

Winter finally seemed to show up here for more than a two stay lay over. It has been in the lower 50s and mid 40s for the past few days, I realize that this isn’t real winter weather depending on where you live, but alas this is south Texas, home to two seasons, not four.

The other big event which occurred over the week end was of course the elections in Iraq. Prior to people going to the polls there were numerous reports of severe retaliation for taking part in the election process, how ever this was brought forward by the Suni population which is in minority to the Shiite population who largely seemed to favor Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.

The have mixed thoughts on the elections which took place, on one hand it is the start of a democracy, people selecting their leaders. However there are other problems which will arise, like the Suni's largely not being represented in certain cities across Iraq, and even if they all voted for an individual of their liking the Shiite population would overshadow them based on pure numbers. Furthermore this was released as well Militant leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has vowed to continue fighting despite Sunday's election. He described the election as an "American game."

There is also this, compliments of Democracy Now:
Tensions Rise Betweens Kurds & Turkish over Kirkuk
In the northern city of Kirkuk it appears the main Kurdish alliance will win two-thirds of the vote in a regional election to form the provincial council. This raises new fears that tension could escalate between the Kurds and Turkey. Turkey opposes the oil-rich city of Kirkuk from being the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region. Because of the area's oil wealth Turkey also fears the Kurdish area may break away from the rest of Iraq and form a separate country.

Only time will tell what will happen.