An Iraqi woman who recently gave birth casts her vote in Iraq's referendum on the new constitution in Najaf, Iraq.
Lots of purple fingers in Iraq today.
Hey old media,kennedy,durbin etc.f.u.
Posted on 10/15/2005 12:07:24 PM PDT by freedom44
BAGHDAD - Iraq’s deeply divided Shias, Sunnis and Kurds voted under heavy guard on Saturday to decide the fate of a new constitution aimed at establishing democracy after more than two decades of Saddam Hussein’s repressive rule.
A day that US and Iraqi leaders feared could turn bloody turned out to be the most peaceful in months.
Insurgents attacked five of Baghdad’s 1,200 polling stations with shootings and bombs, wounding seven voters. But the only deaths were those of three Iraqi soldiers in a roadside bomb far from a polling site, and there were no major attacks reported as US and Iraqi forces clamped down with major security measures around balloting sites.
The United States hopes the constitution will be approved so Iraqis can form a permanent, representative government and secure the country so Washington can start withdrawing its 150,000 troops.
In the south, Shia women in head-to-toe veils and men emerged from the poll stations flashing victory signs with fingers stained with purple ink, apparently responding in mass to the call by their top cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani, to support the charter.
“Once the constitution is stable, the country will be stable,” Rajaa Mohammed Abbas, a 35-year-old Shia woman, said after voting “yes” in the southern city of Karbala, where crowds of people marched after casting ballots, chanting “yes, yes to the constitution.”
But in Sunni areas in Baghdad and several key heavily Sunni provinces, a surprisingly high turnout in some areas seemed to consist largely of Iraqis voting “no” because of fears the new constitution would mean setting in stone the Shia domination they fear.
The Sunni Arab turnout was a dramatic change from January parliamentary election, which most Sunnis boycotted. Now they were eager to cast ballots, which could make the race tighter than expected.
“This is all wrong. I said ’no’ to a constitution written by the Americans,” said Jilan Shaker, 22, a laborer who showed up at a polling station in Baghdad’s Azamiyah district polling station in shorts and plastic sandals.
In the crucial northern city of Mosul, there was a constant flow of voters all day long into a kindergarten in a Sunni Arab neighborhood: men and women, dressed at their best in suits and ties or neatly pressed veils, many carrying young children in holiday clothes.
A top UN official told The Associated Press that turnout was very high in the predominantly Shia Muslim south but low in the mostly Sunni Arab western province of Anbar, where insurgents are active. Carina Perelli, director of the Electoral Assistance Division of the United Nations, also said voter turnout was very steady in many other mostly Sunni regions.
Voters at the country’s 6,100 polling stations marked their paper ballot “yes” or “no” under one question, written in Arabic and Kurdish: “Do you agree on the permanent constitution project?” After placing the ballots in the plastic boxes, the Iraqis had the forefinger of their right hands marked with violet ink.
A few Sunni leaders called for a “yes” vote after last-minute changes were made in the draft, but most urged their voters to oppose.
When polls closed at 5 p.m., celebratory gunfire was heard in Baghdad. Families handed out sweets to passers-by in the street ahead of the end of the day’s Ramadan fast about an hour later.
Vote counting began immediately. In Baqouba, northeast of Baghdad, a handful of men sat around long tables with lanterns, putting “yes” votes in one pile and “no” votes in another.
Baqouba turnout is key because the city is in a province that is majority Sunni but has sizable Shia and Kurdish communities.
There are four provinces where Sunni Arab opponents are hoping to make that threshold: Anbar, Ninevah, Salahuddin and Diyala, all with Sunni majorities. But all of those except Anbar also have significant Shia and Kurdish populations mixed in who the opponents must outweigh to reach two-thirds.
So competition was at its fiercest in those areas, with all sides drumming out voters.
“The government can’t just sew together an outfit and dress the people up by force. We do not see ourselves or see our future in this draft,” said Gazwan Abdul Sattar, 27-year-old Sunni teacher in Mosul after voting “no” in Nivevah’s capital, Mosul.
But in a nearby mostly Kurdish neighborhood of the city, Bahar Saleh gave her support to the constitution. “This constitution will at last give the Kurds their lost rights,” the 34-year-old housewife said, coming from the polls with the red-and-green Kurdish flag wrapped around her body.
In Salahuddin province, just north of Baghdad, turnout may have been as high as 75 percent, local election officials said. In the Sunni Arab town of Tikrit - Saddam’s birthplace, hundreds rushed to the polls in the last minute to make the closing of polls and get home in time for the breaking of the fast.
But turnout also appeared high in mainly Shia towns and districts elsewhere in the province.
In Baghdad, American troops in Humvees rattled down Baghdad streets in patrols, while Iraqi soldiers and police ringed polling stations at schools and other public buildings protected by concrete barriers and barbed wire. Iraqi soldiers armed with heavy machine guns looked over polling sites from nearby rooftops. US troops in tanks and armored vehicles stood not far away as helicopters hovered overhead. Driving was banned to stop suicide car bombings by Sunni-led insurgents determined to wreck the vote.
“Today, I came to vote because I am tired of terrorists, and I want the country to be safe again,” said Zeinab Sahib, a 30-year-old mother of three, one of the first voters at a school in the mainly Shia neighborhood of Karrada in Baghdad. “This constitution means unity and hope.”
"getting my news from FR!"
Me too. I don't have cable, the comments like yours make me not regret it. Other good news sources are the Washington Times online (free, e-mailed to your computer daily) and the Wall Street Journal (still a good newspaper despite a bit of creeping liberalism).
"How can our own MSM overlook these youngsters in their zeal to bring down our government?"
Simple. They are not "our" MSM. They are part of the worldwide organized hard left (WOHL). And they don't overlook these youngsters, they target them.
"Overall, they seemed 'deeply saddened' that there wasn't more violence."
Good. May they lapse into permanent depression.
Maybe this will finally put an end to the "all Muslims are terrorists" messages.
God Bless You Iraq.
It's actually worse than that.
A successful Iraqi diplomacy means that everything they have believed in since Ghengis Khan decapitated their culture was a lie propagated by theocrats hungry for power.
Ever seen what happens when a 700-year old widely held belief and value system is discovered to be false? It's not going to be pretty.
Er, "successful Iraqi DEMOCRACY".
"Having a democratic Iraq is like having a 1000-foot tall replica of the Statue of Liberty in the center of the Middle East."
I like that visual........BRAVO BUMP
Lordy, Lordy, how right you are. My wife and I were just talking about that very thing. Have they shamed us or what?!?! Can you imagine the guts it takes to get up and make your way ON FOOT, to the nearest voting pct. of your area under threat of death, drive-by attacks, sabotaged electrical grids, etc., etc.?
We have turned into such pansys--our military excepted of course!! They all LEAD THE WAY, whether Rangers or not...
"Er, "successful Iraqi DEMOCRACY"."
Point taken. For this reason, however, we have effectively changed the descriptive word of those lovable lefties to the "Democrat Party", technically reserving the term "democratic" to mean people on the opposite end of the spectrum, i.e., those who believe in democracy.
LOL! Perfect.
"We have turned into such pansys..."
We do, in fact, have relatively soft and easy lives, which makes is relatively soft people, in a sense. This is human nature, really. On the other hand, in addition to producing our brave soldiers as a nation, I think we can all take pride in each little thing we do to stand up for what is right.
Question: How can you tell if things are going well in Iraq?
Answer: There are no news stories about Iraq!
Bump...It is the Soldier.
"A successful Iraqi diplomacy means that everything they have believed in since Ghengis Khan decapitated their culture was a lie propagated by theocrats hungry for power."
There some truth to this, but I feel that the monolithic, fanatical nature of Arabs and Muslims has been exaggerated.
On the one hand, we have the phenomenon of modern terrorism. while I would say this arose spontaneously in Algeria from Muslim and Arab roots, I believe the 20th century phenomenon as a whole was mainly the product of the Soviet Union---using the Arabs as a tool. I realize that much of the Arab population has "gone along" with this line, but I feel that much of the origin of this is fairly recent, not the product of 700 years of culture.
I feel that it is the product of modern Arab states that are repressive that have allowed radical Islam as the only form of protest that can exist in their countries that allows people to protest without resulting in immediate arrest. As a result, I think radical Islam seems somewhat bigger than it really is. Not to deny it's quite significant reality. I still see it as a minority phenomenon.
LOL...excellent!
Then again, the cabal of cbsnbcabccnnnytwp is loosing ad revenue as I type, big time.
5.56mm
hmmmm.....
IF it worked for a day...????
Lots of purple fingers in Iraq today.
Hey old media,kennedy,durbin etc.f.u.
Glad you enjoyed it! ;*)
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