It is just as inane to claim there is no bad news as it is to claim there is no good news. Bad news is easy to find in the media. I try to provide some balance here for those who care about balance.

Oh, yes. In the US elections of 1864 voters had a choice - who they could "vote" for wasn't pre-determined by an occupying military power.

If anything broadcasts your complete ignorance of the Iraqi election process, this sentence would be it. I suggest you look into it a bit more closely.

To be sure, there are some groups that aren't going to be allowed to run for office, chief among them Saddam's senior Baathist party members and some others. This is not without precedent. Try to run a Nazi candidate in most nations in Enlightened Europe and see how far you get.