Elections, Allawi style

So let me see if I have the current Iraqi election scenario straight. 20 percent of the country, the Sunnis, have asked the government to delay the elections because of security concerns. This group lives in the "Sunni Triangle" area, the region of the country most embattled by the insurgency, and there is little sign of peace on the horizon:

...the [native Iraqi] police have performed poorly in the Sunni Muslim areas in central and northwestern Iraq, where much of the current violence is concentrated. As a dramatic case in point, the police force in Mosul, Iraq's third-largest city, collapsed earlier this month. A wave of attacks on police stations and other government buildings prompted 3,200 of the city's 4,000 police officers to abandon their jobs.

Insurgents have waged a ferocious campaign of intimidation against the police. While attacks on U.S. and other foreign troops have increased 24 percent since the handover of power in late June, attacks on Iraqi security forces have risen 50 percent, according to the U.S. military command here.

60% of the population in Iraq is composed of the Shiites. Their region of the country is less war torn, and therefore there is less concern about violence disrupting January elections. Perhaps the most famous Shiite is the country's current leader, Illad Allawi. He stands to gain (and so do his people) from suppression or all out boycott of the Sunni vote. He is also backed by the U.S. government, which has been selling America the idea that free Iraqi elections are the first step toward American troop withdraw at a time when the American public is growing increasing weary of our stay there.

So guess what the current leader who represents a majority of the country and is backed by the U.S. military thinks about the Sunni's request to postpone the election:

...the spokesman for interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite, said the government was sticking by the Jan. 30 date after receiving assurances from the Iraqi Electoral Commission that an election could take place even in Sunni areas wracked by the insurgency.

"The Iraqi government is determined ... to hold elections on time," spokesman Thair al-Naqeeb said. "The Iraqi government, led by the prime minister, is calling on all spectra of the Iraqi people to participate in the elections and to contribute in the elections to build a strong democratic country."

Why would any one be surprised by that?