March 5th Morning Readbook

Montage of Iraqi election commercials




Iraq expats vote as election enters final straight
Politicians launched into their last day of campaigning on Friday as more than a million Iraqis living abroad began voting in an election that could turn the page on years of deadly sectarian strife.


Iraq 'determined to regain dignity'
Since the occupation of Baghdad and the fall of the Baath regime in April 2003, the Iraqi people have gone to the polls almost once every year, on average. Among the countless running jokes in Iraq today is the one where an independent candidate pledges to save the country millions by keeping his current election posters plastered through the capital's streets – permanently.


Iraq's Kurds go the polls amid carnival atmosphere
Ahmed Hassan Rasul spent 10 years in the mountains of northern Iraq as a pershmerga guerilla, fighting for independence for Iraq's Kurds against the forces of Saddam Hussein.


Pakistan steps up anti-Taliban efforts
U.S. pressure on Pakistan to crack down on Taliban extremists within its borders is paying off, American officials and independent analysts say, paving the way for progress in the war in neighboring Afghanistan.


Joint Chiefs Chairman Mullen outlines a more restrained art of war
Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, outlined a new U.S. approach to war in a series of speeches this week that replaces overwhelming firepower with more restrained use of force to safeguard civilian lives.


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