The Big Election

Today I witnessed history as Iraq had its parliamentary elections. Things went well. A large majority came out to vote in our area, and the Iraqi Army and police forces put forth a great effort in providing security for the people.




Above: Me and one of my interpreters as we tour polling sites with the Iraqi Army (don't ask about the cones on the antennas, I don't get it either).


Supposedly even Sunnis got the message this time, and they turned out in big numbers-- Last time they abstained from voting in the face of threats from tribal leaders and post-Saddam holdovers. As a result, last time they were left out, and this time they seemed to have learned their lesson.


Our day started early. The Brigade Commander I advise told me yesterday he wanted to get an early start on visiting the polling sites (46 total in his area) so we agreed to begin at 6am. My team arrived outside the headquarters, and in typical fashion, he wasn't ready. We waited. At 7:30am, the Commander emerged all Fidel Castro-style, and the traveling circus of his trucks (he rolls with a big entourage) and our big dumb MRAP trucks (see the previous video below) went zooming all over the three towns and rural areas that are in our area. Voting was slow at the start, but soon people with purple index fingers, a sign that they had voted, were more and more common. We visited a Sunni Sheik, and on the way out our big dumb truck pulled down a power line. Oops. (Believe it-- this is common for us.)


As the day went on, the atmosphere was festive. People seemed to feel like they were in charge of their own future, even though they could not drive anywhere due to the heightened security. They walked to the polling sites to cast their vote. Imagine what the voter turnout would have been in America if people had to walk to the polls on November 4th...


In our area nothing bad happened today. No found or blown IEDs, no dead guys, no indirect fire attacks, no suicide bombs, no suicide car bombs. Just a nice sunny day in Iraq, and a bunch of people out voting. In a sense it was anti-climactic. I really expected something to go wrong. Perhaps it will as they transport the ballot boxes to Baghdad, but the folks of Iraq already tasted victory in this election, regardless of who they voted for. I seriously doubt this will get me or anyone else home faster, but it was a good sign.


There are still a lot of unknowns. The consequence of freedom is that being in charge of your own future carries responsibility, and I'm not sure Iraqis have yet to really experience or realize that. I think even we forget that sometimes, and instead rely on others to fix our own problems. Time will tell to see how they deal with Democracy. More importantly, time will tell how the rest of the world (particularly the Arab world, and even more particularly, Iran) deal with Iraqi Democracy.


Today was a good day. Hope you had a good day too.

Ron