Wary Iraqis will vote today for a new government for the second time since the fall of Baghdad
in 2003, with all sects pledging to turn out in numbers and President Obama hoping for a result that will allow him to end the seven-year US occupation.

The poll is seen as a test of Iraq's progress in the 51 months since the disastrous general election of 2005, and its capacity to stand alone afterwards – during what is expected to be a power vacuum caused by the rapid withdrawal of all remaining US combat troops. The pullout will be ordered within weeks, if the ballot is deemed to be credible..

Iraqis begin voting, with US pull-out to follow credible poll | World news | The Observer