Baghdad Eerily Quiet on Eve of Elections

Campaigning halted Wednesday across Iraq to give its 15 million voters an opportunity to reflect before parliamentary elections - the final step toward constitutional democracy since the ouster of Saddam Hussein two years ago.

Baghdad's streets were eerily quiet on the eve of Thursday's parliamentary election, with police strictly enforcing a traffic ban. Only an occasional siren, a sporadic gunshot, a U.S. helicopter, or shouts from boys playing soccer could be heard. Borders and airports also have been closed, and the nighttime curfew has been extended.

President Bush said in a speech in Washington that the elections will inspire democracy across the Middle East, but he also accepted responsibility for going to war in Iraq with faulty intelligence.

"We are in Iraq today because our goal has always been more than the removal of brutal dictator," Bush said. "It is to leave a free and democratic Iraq in his place."

Bush said the United States, at the request of Iraqi leaders, accelerated the transition to Iraqi self-government.

"We set four major milestones to guide Iraq's transition to constitutional democracy: the transfer of sovereignty, elections for a transitional government, the adoption of a democratic constitution, and elections for a new government under that constitution. In spite of the violence, Iraqis have met every milestone," he said.

President Jalal Talabani described the elections as "a national celebration, a day of the national unity and of victory over the terrorists and those who oppose our march toward democracy."

He said a good turnout would give the new government the legitimacy it needs to deflate the insurgency and allow it to build up its armed forces so foreign troops could begin withdrawing.

The otherwise calm day was disrupted by demonstrations by thousands of Shiites angered over disparaging remarks made about them by a fellow Shiite politician on an Al-Jazeera television talk show late Tuesday.

The demonstrations, which turned into political rallies, threatened to further polarize the elections after angry Shiites in the southern city of Nasiriyah set fire to a building housing the offices of former interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. A secular Shiite, Allawi has campaigned on a platform of national reconciliation.