Iraqi Poster Wars: No Longer Just A Metaphor

I had been keeping track of reports of Iraqi election workers killed while hanging campaign posters.

The first mention I heard of these murders was in an LA Times article a week ago Sunday.  (I may have linked to it previously.)  The write up gave no location, but reported that four poster hangers had been shot, and one killed, in a drive by shooting on November 26th.

I since read that at least two workers hanging posters for Allawi’s Iraqi National Coalition had been slain, one in Basra and the other in Amara.

The image above is dated November 29th, but it apparently showed up on the newswire last night or today.  According to the Reuters caption, gunmen attacked a car in Mosul on November 29th killing two members of the Assyrian Movement (Election Slate 740) as they were hanging election posters.

This is about The BAG’s fourth cycle covering elections through the lens of campaign posters.  When I first came up with the term "Poster War," I never imagined it would acquire a literal meaning.

(image: Namir Noor-Eldeen/Reuters.  November 29, 2005.  Mosul, Iraq. Via YahooNews)

Series: Iraqi Parliamentary Elections.  December 15, 2005