Hi there, I'm Lalei Arikoglu, and this podcast is brought to you by Wilderness, a conservation-driven

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code scene, S-C-E. A better web starts with your website. This is the political scene, a

weekly conversation with New Yorker writers and editors about politics.

It's Thursday, May 1st.

I'm Dorothy Wickenden, executive editor of the New Yorker.

In the midst of a period of growing sectarian violence, Iraqis began voting yesterday in the first election since the American military withdrawal.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki made a brief statement after voting.

He's saying, God willing, we will all celebrate the success of the election and the defeat

of terrorism and those who bet on the postponement of the election.

To talk about Iraq since the U.S. withdrawal, I'm joined by

George Packer and Dexter Filkins. Dexter, you spent four weeks there earlier this year for your

recent profile of Maliki, and you wrote about his increasing authoritarianism and the return

...