WASHINGTON, Sept 24 (AFP) - A top US diplomat acknowledged Friday that elections in Iraq planned for January will be "messy" but said every effort would be made to ensure that all eligible Iraqi voters take part.
"Is it going to be messy? Yes, it will," Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said in congressional testimony.
"But it's going to be fair and transparent," Armitage stressed.
With Iraqi interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi on a visit to Washington, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Thursday that more US troops may have to be sent to Iraq to provide security for January elections, and that a vote may not be held in all parts of the country if there is too much violence.
But Armitage, in prepared remarks, said the goal was to enable all eligible voters to cast their ballots.
"The Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq is working closely with the United Nations to ensure that the elections are legitimate and credible, and that all eligible Iraqi voters have the opportunity to cast a ballot," he said.
"They are pulling together a voter registration system, have launched a public information campaign and are completing elections rules and procedures, with our support and advice," Armitage said in his written statement to the House Appropriations Committee's Foreign Operations panel.
Armitage addressed the panel to defend US administration plans to redirect 3.46 billion dollars of the 18 billion appropriated for Iraq away from electricity and infrastructure and into boosting security, economic development and debt relief.
"I would say to you that no plan survives first contact with the enemy, and ours didn't," Armitage told the panel after coming in for criticism from some Democrats over the administration's handling of Iraq. They nonetheless said they would support the proposed funding shifts.
"We took money from electricity and water because that's where it was," Armitage added, noting: "It grieves us."
Democrat Dave Obey of Wisconsin told Armitage it was time for the administration to "can the phony optimism."
"This occupation is going to last longer than the Second World War," Obey said, adding: "It's going to take a minor miracle for those elections to take place on time in January."
New York Democratic congresswoman Nita Lowey argued that "holding elections in January has now become a cornerstone of President Bush's democratization of Iraq," though critical elements needed for success were missing.
"It serves no one to continue to mislead Congress and the American people on what is possible, the pace at which security can be restored or the costs."
"Voter lists haven't actually been created yet. Parties haven't actually been formed," Lowey said.
"Taken as a whole, we have a bleak picture, indeed," she said, admonishing Armitage: "I hope you can tell us that this marks the end of the administration's incompetent policy to win peace in Iraq, and that this plan will succeed where others have failed."