Iraqi voters face 'decisive moment' in elections

This Sunday Iraqis will go to the polls for parliamentary elections throughout the country. At stake are the 325 seats that could determine the next prime minister. But the process has been marred with controversy. In January, some candidates were barred from running and targeted bombings of polling sites have increased this week.

The top UN envoy in Iraq, Ad Melkert, said the country faces a choice.

"It is for Iraq a very decisive moment. I think it's actually the most decisive moment since 2003, the invasion that of course turned the country upside down. And now is the chance, also against the backdrop of the withdrawal of the American troops in the next few years that Iraqis really define by themselves their own way forward, their own destiny."

We're joined now by Raed Jarrar. He's a senior fellow on the Middle East at Peace Action, a nationwide grassroots peace organization. He's also one of the first Iraqi bloggers and he grew up in Baghdad.