11/21/2008 How Do I Listen? Archived programs are streamed in the Real Audio Format. Click here to download   Problems Listening? Try this Direct Listen Link if the "Listen to Show" button to the right does not work   Hosted by: Dick Gordon Show Originally Aired: 1/19/2004 CALL 1 800-423-TALK Al-Sistani Ups the Ante Iraqis shop for posters including those of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, far left, in the Kadimiyah district of Baghdad, Iraq. (AP) Email to friend As Paul Bremmer and Kofi Annan meet in New York today to discuss the political future of Iraq and the U.N.'s eventual role there, headlines out of that country bear more grim news. A suicide bombing at U.S. headquarters in Iraq Sunday, claimed more than 20 lives, injured 100 more, and underscored the ongoing difficulties of the U.S.-led occupation. The number of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq reached the 500 mark this past weekend. Yet, the transition of power remains extremely complicated. The powerful Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani is calling for direct elections rather than America's plan for regional caucuses, which are causing some to warn of civil war. Related Shows Colin Powell goes to the Security Council The Connection (02/05/2003) Human Artillery The Connection (09/11/2003) Iraq Ultimatum On Point (09/12/2002) Terror and the Transformation of America The Connection (10/10/2001) Reckoning with Iraq The Connection (07/31/2002) Defense Deal-making On Point (03/12/2003) Related Links Sistani.Org - Personal website of Ali Husaini Sistani Iraqis Demand Election Ahead of U.N. Meeting (Reuters) Car Bomb Kills 20 Outside Main U.S. Base in Baghdad (Reuters) Hamid Dabashi, chair of Middle East and Asian Languages and Culture at Columbia University Robert Orr, executive director for research at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Kennedy School of Government.

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