Iraq

The deep breath before the plunge

ramadi.JPG
(AP photo and verbatim caption) Iraqi youths stand next to five dead bodies in Ramadi, an insurgent stronghold 113 kilometers (70 miles) west of Baghdad, Saturday, Jan. 29, 2005.

In five hours, the polls will open. Is Zarqawi bluffing? Will anyone turn out to vote? Will the Bush administration use the expats as evidence of the process working? Will it be the first day of a civil war?

And will the blue ink on the fingers of voters make them targets?

Reuters sets the table.