In other news from Iraq, the country’s defense minister Hazem Shaalann claimed today that Iranian and Syrian intelligence agents were supporting the Iraqi resistance and he warned that a pro-Iranian Shiite could win next month’s election. Hazem Shaalann said “They are fighting us because we want to build freedom and democracy and they want to build an Islamic dictatorship and have turbaned clerics to rule in Iraq.” Some polls show that backers of pro-Iranian Hussain al-Shahristani could win the election. The defense minister’s warning came on the first day of campaigning for the January elections.