Opinion: Insurgents and elections in Iraq. As expected, Iraq's Sunni-dominated insurgents have unleashed a barrage of attacks in the weeks ahead of parliamentary elections set for Jan. 30. The attackers, who hope to disrupt the polls that will determine the make-up of a new government and the process of creating a permanent constitution for the nation, have to a large degree been effective. Their recent campaign of murder and intimidation has killed 90 Iraqis this week alone. Along with a growing number of Iraq's Sunni Muslims promising to boycott the polls, the legitimacy of January elections has been thrown into doubt. While those monitoring the run up to the elections have earmarked various degrees of Iraqi participation and American involvement for the polls to be considered a success, most agree on one issue: the process must be viewed as legitimate by Iraqis or the nation is likely to dissolve into full-fledged civil war. [long analysis follows...] (Robert Nolan via Foreign Policy Assocation)