101st Airborne prepares to be invisible during Iraqi elections

With a masked translator at their side, soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division have spent weeks on dusty village streets ahead of next week's Iraqi election. Patrols have collected information on polling sites in case an emergency arises and ensured safekeeping of the nation's ballots. But when polls open Thursday, the Americans will be miles away.

Soldiers of the 101st Airborne, based at Fort Campbell, Ky., and now stationed in predominantly Sunni Arab areas of north-central Iraq, will maintain a distance of at least one mile from polls during voting. That will avoid creating the impression the Americans are controlling and influencing the process.

"We need to put a wholly Iraqi face on this election," said Capt. James Turner, a troop commander in the division's 33rd Cavalry Regiment.

Much is at stake in the elections, both for Iraq and for the U.S.-led coalition. Voters will select a parliament to serve for a full four-year term and name the first fully constitutional government in Iraq since the collapse of Saddam Hussein's rule in 2003.



http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/TN_IRAQ_INVISIBLE_SECURITY_TNOL-?SITE=VARIT&SECTION=US&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2005-12-09-16-58-57

I have a great plan. If you have to really stay 100% invisible what you have to do is LEAVE THE FUCKING COUNTRY.

You can be MUCH more invisible if you are NOT THERE.

I'll have 2 stars please, a nice office to be able to send young men to their deaths from.