President George W. Bush speaks to an audience at the Woodrow Wilson Center Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2005, in Washington. The speech, the last of four in defense of his war policy, is on the eve of the vote in Iraq. The president is banking on a successful election, which would establish Iraq's first permanent, democratically elected government, to signal that his war plan is working.
Iraqi policemen block a street in Najaf, Iraq, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2005. Campaigning came to a stop Wednesday around Iraq to give the country's 15 million voters an opportunity to reflect a day before before deciding who will govern their country for the next four years.
Lance Bombardier Paul Garden of Britain's 102 Theatre Military Working Dogs Support Unit holds back his German Shepherd attack dog 'Alfie' during a demonstration for the media at Shaibah Logistics Base in southern Iraq, Dec. 14, 2005. Elections for a 275-member National Assembly take place across Iraq on Dec. 15.
Iraqi soldiers are reflected in the sunglasses of a fellow soldier at a checkpoint in Baqouba, Iraq, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2005. Streets in Baghdad were eerily quiet one day before the Dec. 15, 2005, election, with police strictly enforcing a traffic ban. Borders and airports were closed, and the nighttime curfew was extended.
A soldier from Britain's 9th/12th Royal Lancers looks out from the tower of an Iraqi police station during a patrol in the town of Az Zubayr, in southern Iraq, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2005. Elections for a 275-member National Assembly are to take place across Iraq on Thursday.
U.S. Army vehicles patrol a street in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2005. Election campaigning came to a stop Wednesday around Iraq to give the country's 15 million voters an opportunity to reflect before deciding who will govern their country for the next four years. Streets in Baghdad were eerily quiet one day before Thursday's election, with police strictly enforcing a traffic ban.
A young Iraqi uses a camera phone to take a picture of his friend, posing with Trooper Che Gilbert from C Squadron of Britain's 9th/12th Royal Lancers during a patrol in the town of Az Zubayr, in southern Iraq, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2005. Elections for a 275-member National Assembly are scheduled to take place across Iraq on Thursday.
A soldier from Britain's 9th/12th Royal Lancers shakes hands with an Iraqi man standing in the doorway of a clothes shop during a patrol in the town of Az Zubayr, in southern Iraq, Wednesday Dec. 14, 2005. Elections for a 275-member National Assembly take place across Iraq on Thursday.
Paradise Square and Ramadan 14th mosque in the center of Baghdad, Iraq, are deserted because of a pre-election traffic ban, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2005. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani called on Iraqis to make the elections "a national celebration and an historic day for national unity and a victory over terrorism".
Iraqi children play soccer on a street void of normal traffic, in front of an election campaign poster for former prime minister Ayad Allawi, head of the National Accord Party, in the center of Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2005. Streets in Baghdad were eerily quiet one day before Thursday's election, with police strictly enforcing a traffic ban.
A worker employed by the municipality digs in front of an election poster campaigning for the Shiite list United Iraqi Alliance with pictures of prominent Shiite clerics Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, left, Mohammad Baqir al-Sadr, center, and Ayatollah Mohammed Sadeq al-Sadr, right, in Baghdad, Iraq, Dec. 14, 2005.
An election poster for Hazem Shaalan, a former Iraqi defense minister now accused of corruption and abuse of power, flies over deserted streets in the center of Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday Dec. 14, 2005. Streets in Baghdad were eerily quiet one day before Thursday's election, with police strictly enforcing a traffic ban. Borders and airports have also been closed, and the nighttime curfew has been extended.
Iraqi Shiite demonstrators gather by an election campaign poster for Shiite list United Iraqi Alliance during a rally supporting prominent Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, on picture at the center, in Al-Sadr, near Baghdad, Iraq, Dec. 14, 2005. Angry Shiites marched to protest remarks made on a talk show on Al-Jazeera television, in which a Sunni guest criticized Iraq's Shiite religious leaders.
Shiite protestors attend a rally as some hold posters with a portrait of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani during a demonstration in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2005. Angry protesters marched after a Sunni guest on an Al-Jazeera television show criticized Iraq's Shiite religious leaders.
Iraqi Kurds dance in front of a polling station after they cast their ballots in an election for a new parliament in Iraq in Cologne, Germany, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2005. Iraqi emigrants traveled to polling stations around the world to cast absentee ballots in Iraq's election, leaving with ink-stained fingers and hope for the future of the country they fled during Saddam Hussein's brutal regime.
An Iraqi woman marks her ballot paper during Iraqi parliamentary elections, at a polling station in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2005. Iraqi emigrants traveled to polling stations in 15 countries to cast absentee ballots in Iraq's election, which takes place on Dec. 15.
An Iraqi woman's right index finger is covered with purple ink to show she has voted during Iraqi parliamentary elections, at a polling station in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2005. Iraqi expatriates are permitted to cast absentee ballots in 15 countries across the world.
Local Iraqis stand outside a polling station for the forthcoming Iraqi election in the town of Az Zubayr, in southern Iraq, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2005. Iraq said a good turnout would give the new government the legitimacy it needs to deflate the insurgency and allow it to build up Iraq's armed forces to the point where foreign troops could begin withdrawing.
An Iraqi man holds his baby as he casts his ballot during Iraqi parliamentary elections, at a polling station in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2005. Iraqi emigrants traveled to polling stations around the world, leaving with ink-stained fingers and hope for the future of the country they fled during Saddam Hussein's brutal regime.
An Iraqi citizen who had just finished casting his vote stands in a polling station in Mississauga, Ont., Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2005. Thousands of expatriates around the globe are voting this week for 275 members of Iraq's National Assembly. The new legislature will make laws in the coming four years and choose the first fully constitutional government in that country since the collapse of Saddam Hussein's rule in 2003.