How to Campaign Not Get Killed When Running For Office in Iraq

Four nice U.S. Senators came to Iraq to talk to some of the women running for office about how to campaign. They brought bumper stickers, t-shirts and banners and expected to talk about how to get publicity and how to get your message out there and how to get people to get out and vote.

But instead, the discussion turned to how to not get killed.

They quickly realized that much of what they planned to tell the Iraqi women "didn't pertain to them," Granger said. Rep. Judy Biggert), R-Ill., who brought along her favorite campaign giveaway - a sponge bearing her
name - added that after hearing the women's stories, "it seemed kind of frivolous."

And how bad is it?

The teenage sons of two candidates have been killed in retaliation
for the women's political activities. Another candidate was kidnapped
and held until her family paid her ransom.

and

As Election Day approaches, many female candidates are sending their
families out of the country, said Manal Omar, who directs a program in
Iraq on behalf of Women for Women International, a non-profit organization established to provide financial and other support for women in war zones.
Omar said she spoke to some of the Iraqi women who attended the
meetings with House members and that they were "frustrated" by the
American politicians' apparent naiveté. "They were amazed (the Americans)
didn't know how bad Iraq was," Omar said.

Maybe if the Bush Administration would stop painting such a rosy picture of how ducky everything is over there, and be honest with the American people, or at least with our Senators, these ladies could have at least tried to be prepared to help with the scary things the nice Iraqi ladies are dealing with. Yet George Bush continues to want to go ahead and do the election-thingy at the end of this month.