BAGHDAD, Iraq—The elections in the United States may have been considered a referendum on U.S. policy in Iraq, but most Iraqis seemed unfazed Tuesday by the possibility that the voting could lead to changes in their country.
While some political analysts worried that a Democratic victory in Congress might lead to a reduction in American troops here, Iraqis outside the world of politics saw no change, regardless of the results.
Indeed, it's one of the few things that Sunni and Shiite Muslims seem to agree on.
"Their policies, as we know, are planned by different institutions, and it is not up to one or two groups to decide," said Ali Kamil, 36, an engineer in Sadr City, the Shiite district in northern Baghdad that's a stronghold for powerful cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. "No, I don't see anything on television that convinces me it will have a major impact here."
Ahmed Salih, 27, an Internet cafe owner from the Sunni stronghold of Fallujah, said the elections were a U.S. issue, not an Iraqi one.
"It is hard for me to believe there will be any difference on the ground," Salih said.
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(c) 2006, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
Iraq