Attacks fail to daunt Iraqis

March 8, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

BAGHDAD

Iraqis defied insurgents who lobbed hand grenades at voters and bombed a polling station Sunday in an attempt to intimidate those taking part in elections that will determine whether their country can overcome deep sectarian divides as U.S. forces prepare to leave.

The conclusion of the vote, however, did not spell an immediate end to political uncertainty. It could be days until results come in and with the fractured nature of Iraqi politics, it could take months to form a government.

Sunnis and Shiites seemed united in one way Sunday — defiance in the face of violence.

The violence was a direct challenge to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who has gained popularity as violence across the country has plummeted.

It was an election day that demonstrated starkly how far the country, a rare democracy in the Middle East, has come since the last nationwide parliamentary vote in December 2005 and how much still holds it back.

And the American military presence so prominent in 2005 was limited on election day to helicopters buzzing over head as a massive deployment of Iraqi forces took the lead on the ground.

Insurgents used mostly rockets, mortars and explosive-filled plastic bottles hidden under trash to terrorize voters on their way to the polls. They killed 36 people, almost all of them in Baghdad.