Iraqi Democracy in Action

frontpagemag ^ | Today | Jacob Laksin

[jessduntno]

Iraqi Democracy in Action By Jacob Laksin FrontPageMagazine.com | Monday, February 02, 2009

It’s a depressing scene: warring political factions; a messy reconstruction plan; division amid crisis. But no matter how grim the state of affairs in the U.S. Congress, Americans can at least look with satisfaction at the political efflorescence underway in Iraq. On Saturday, Iraq held its first nationwide elections in three years. The results will not be in for several more days, but the weekend vote already has provided fresh proof of the stellar progress that Iraq has made in recent years.

One of the more encouraging aspects of Iraq’s election day is just how uneventful it was. Considering that the previous election, in January 2005, was marred by a spree of terrorist violence that saw 44 people killed, 9 deadly suicide bombings, and widespread harassment and intimidation at voting stations, the deficit of headline-making news must be considered a positive step forward. Despite the massive scale of the weekend vote, in which some 14,400 candidates from 400 parties stood for the provincial election, there were no reported deaths throughout and only a few isolated incidents of violence. One Iraqi voter summed up the new atmosphere: “We were not able to vote during the 2005 elections because of the deteriorating security situation. But now we feel safe enough to go out and vote.”

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President Obama has long made it clear that Iraq is not his war. But even he must appreciate the significance of 7.5 million Iraqis – more than half of all eligible voters – casting their vote without fear or terror. This weekend, Iraqis made their voices heard. For the sake of the country’s continued progress – and America’s national interest – one should hope that the new president was listening.

[jessduntno]

"For the sake of the country’s continued progress – and America’s national interest – one should hope that the new president was listening."

A real test for Obomber - does he ignore this? Probably...so willl the MSM...but it sure looks like the war is won to me...

[NEMDF]

Thank you for the post. God Bless our military men and women who have made this possible.

[Mr_Tiki]

Iraqi democray is taking roots, sllowly but surely.

I read few funny incidences from this link Arabic link: http://ar.aswataliraq.info/?p=125173

- One old man put his welfare ticket in the polling box by mistake and was attempting to get it out before officials stopped him. They advised him that he has no option but to wait until the end of the day when they open the box and get his welfare ticket out.

- One woman was attempting to vote for herself as well as her late husband who died 3 years ago. She was carrying a large picture of her late husband and was seriously arguing with officials saying “ he is always with us”

- One man was attempting to vote for his new wife who was not registered instead of his old deceased wife. His argument is that this is my wife and it should matter if it’s a different wife.