There is some goofy reporting in that story. They make a lot of estimates about turnout but they fail to describe how they came by their numbers. Listen to this: "In Basra, Iraq's second largest town, the turnout was 32-35%, although Iraqi election officials claimed 90%."
But they never describe how Iraqi officials determined the 90% figure or how they came up with their much lower figures. Here is the sole reference to their sourcing for this information: "DEBKAfile's Iraq experts reveal that, while the turnout is officially estimated at 60%, the real figure will probably turn out to be quite a bit lower, no more than 40-45% - in itself an exceptional feat." Who are their experts? What are their qualifications? Where did they get their data from? Don't tell me- these guys called a book house in London to come up with the numbers. The truth is no one really knows how many ballots were cast. The U.N. had a limited presence on the ground because of fears over violence, the U.S. military stayed in the background, and no one else has the manpower in country to figure this stuff out except the Iraqis themselves, and they don't have the infrastructure in place to communicate the results that quickly. Maybe these folks are right, but they need to step up and act like real journalists by disclosing their methodologies and experts. Do they have an agenda behind the report? I'm not making an accusation, I'm asking a question. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Michael Dinowitz" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "CF-Community" <cf-community@houseoffusion.com> Sent: Sunday, January 30, 2005 11:22 PM Subject: Re: The Polls have closed in Iraq > Another view of the elections, the truth of which will be questioned: > http://debka.com/article.php?aid=974 > > >I hope a democratic government is elected. In respect for this moment > > I will not ask if Diebold machines were used. > > > > Dana > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Find out how CFTicket can increase your company's customer support efficiency by 100% http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=49 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:145464 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
