Iraqi election turnout 62 percent
BAGHDAD, March 9 (UPI) -- About 62 percent of registered voters cast ballots during the recent parliamentary elections, exceeding expectations, Iraq's electoral commission said.
Some Western officials predicted between 55 percent and 60 percent of the 19 million eligible Iraqis would go to the polls, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.
In Baghdad, turnout Sunday was 53 percent while the predominately Sunni province of Salahuddin had a turnout of nearly 75 percent, the Independent High Electoral Commission said. Sunni Muslims, a minority that did well under the late President Saddam Hussein, aggressively pursued a get-out-the-vote campaign in hopes of gaining a larger voice in the government led by the Shiite majority, the Times reported.
Officials said the lower-than-expected turnout in Baghdad could have been because of a five-hour assault by militants that initially deterred people from voting.
The electoral commission said it expected to complete the initial tally later this week.
Members of both Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's alliance and the coalition of a predecessor and challenger, Iyad Allawi, said they were in stiff competition for the lion's share of seats in parliament, the Times said.
Sami Askari, one of Maliki's confidants, said unofficial projections indicated Maliki's State of Law alliance won about 100 seats, posting wins in Iraq's nine southern provinces and Baghdad. Askari said he thought Allawi's Iraqiya coalition won in northern and western provinces.
Election bodes well for troop withdrawal
BAGHDAD, March 9 (UPI) -- Iraq's election success was such that the U.S. military still plans to pull nearly half of its combat troops this year, the top U.S. commander in Iraq said.
U.S. Army Gen. Ray Odierno said Sunday's election was another milestone that allows him to meet President Barack Obama's goal of withdrawing all but 50,000 non-combat forces from Iraq by the end of August, USA Today reported Tuesday.
"Unless there's a catastrophic event, we don't see that changing," Odierno said. "We believe we're right on track."
Odierno said the current level of about 96,000 service personnel would remain basically flat until May then gradually be reduced through August.
Iraqi election officials said they should have preliminary results later this week. Turnout indicates Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his chief competitor, Iyad Allawi, were on a collision course over control of 325-seat parliament, analysts said.
Healthcare is GOP campaign issue No. 1
WASHINGTON, March 9 (UPI) -- If a U.S. healthcare reform bill passes Congress, Republicans are prepared to attack the bill during the 2010 election season, party leaders said.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, the National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman, said he personally preferred a healthcare bill be killed in Congress, but his committee was preparing an assault should Democrats nudge a bill through, Politico reported Tuesday.
If a bill passes, Republican candidates would be asking voters if their healthcare costs are lower, Cornyn said.
"And I think the answer to that would be, no, they're not," he said during a briefing Monday with reporters.
"Most of the pain will begin immediately, and the gain, if you look at it as gain, will come years down the road," he said, referring to provisions that would raise taxes immediately while not expanding coverage for several years.
"This will make sure that healthcare is the No. 1 issue that the election is won or lost on in November," Cornyn said.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is exerting its own pressure on Republican Senate candidates, daring them to state on the record whether they'd support the repeal of healthcare reform if elected.
"We believe that every Republican should be clear if they would support the repeal of healthcare reform if elected to the Senate," DSCC spokesman Eric Schultz said. "If (North Carolina Sen.) Richard Burr is going to look voters in the eye and pledge to repeal healthcare reform, which will have afforded coverage to 1.7 million North Carolinians, eliminated the doughnut hole for seniors, offered tax credits to small businesses, lowered the deficit and ended appalling insurance practices, then good luck to him.
State laws gradually going to pot
WASHINGTON, March 9 (UPI) -- From the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific, state laws restricting marijuana use are slowly going up in smoke, a newspaper review indicates.
Advocates of legalizing marijuana say shifts propelled by culture, politics and generational attitudes have moved the United States to the point that could see the relaxation of 40 years of tough restrictions on medicinal and recreational marijuana use, USA Today reported Tuesday.
"Let's face reality," said James Gray, a one-time federal prosecutor who now advocates legalizing marijuana. "Taxing and regulating marijuana will make it less available to children than it is today."
A Gallup Poll in October indicated 44 percent of respondents said they favored legalizing marijuana. An ABC News-Washington Post poll in January indicated 81 percent said they favored legalizing marijuana for medical use.
Last fall, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said raiding medical marijuana facilities would be the lowest priority, a move that prompted many states to re-examine their pot policies. At least 14 states this year will consider legalizing marijuana for medical purposes or reducing penalties for possessing small amounts for personal use. Fourteen other states and the District of Columbia already eased up their marijuana laws.
"We are absolutely in an important new era in which increasing majorities of Americans are not just questioning the wisdom and efficacy of marijuana prohibition but are demanding alternatives," Stephen Gutwillig, California director for the Drug Policy Alliance, which favors legalizing marijuana, told USA Today.
Even opponents admit it's harder to persuade lawmakers to hang tough.
"We're going to multiply the problems we have with alcohol abuse," said Michael Carroll, president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police and police chief of West Goshen Township in Chester County, Pa. "Things are not going our way, but that's not stopping us for speaking out about it."
Israel offers Turkey earthquake aid
ANKARA, Turkey, March 9 (UPI) -- Israel has offered aid to Turkey following Monday's earthquake that badly damaged six towns and killed at least 51 people, Turkish national media reported.
At a news conference in Ankara, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the offer was welcome as long as there were no political strings, the Hurriyet Daily News reported Tuesday.
"Everything becomes secondary when a humanitarian issue appears on the agenda," he said.
The Turkish government reduced the fatality toll from 57 to 51 without explanation and said at least 74 people were injured in the magnitude 6 quake that hit around 4:30 a.m. Monday, Zaman reported.
At least 41 aftershocks were registered as people huddled in the streets, afraid to stay inside, the report said.
A large, but undetermined number of livestock also were killed or trapped in debris in the largely agricultural region, officials said.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered regional officials to revamp building codes away from adobe bricks to more quake-resistant concrete in the reconstruction process, Zaman said.
Britain cracks down on unruly dogs, owners
LONDON, March 9 (UPI) -- All dogs in Britain should be microchipped and owners covered by third-party insurance to pay for injuries from attacks, Home Secretary Alan Johnson said.
"People have a fundamental right to feel safe," said Johnson, a former postman who was bitten twice on his rounds.
The proposed initiatives would require dogs to be fenced in, muzzled or kept on a leash and owners would be required to attend a dog-handling course, Johnson said in a report co-authored by Environment Secretary Hilary Benn.
The initiatives would make it illegal for a dog to be out of control in any place -- public or private, The Times of London reported Tuesday.
Nearly 100 people a week are treated in Britain for dog bites and the number of attacks has risen from 3,079 in 1997-98 to 5,221 last year. There's also been a 12-fold increase in dog fighting, said the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
