On Iraqi Voting-Amen

[Annie]

http://spiraloflies.blogspot.com/2005/10/why-it-was-worth-it.html

Saturday, October 15, 2005
Why it was worth it
I am watching the results of the Iraqi Constitutional voting, amazed. Amazed that no one is talking about this vote in the proper historical context. Because today will be as important to the War on Terror as the fall of the Berlin Wall was to the Cold War.

The United States invaded another country not for riches or gold or conquest but to spread ideas. Liberals from earlier generations, who went to war against fascism in Spain in the 1930’s, would have supported this war. They would have understood that this was a battle of ideologies. The US had to change the mindset of the Muslim world, and to do that it had to go to war with it, drag it kicking and screaming into the twenty-first century.

As a humanist, how can it matter why the war started – if the end result is so worth it? What was at stake was the salvation of human values in a region of the world long ignored. Which brings me to a question, are brown skinned women in Iraq any less valuable then white babies born in New York? I know my answer and that is why it shouldn’t matter why the US went to Iraq. It shouldn’t matter who the president was and it shouldn’t matter if lies were told to sell the war. What matters is that brown skinned woman having the right to vote and the freedom to pursue life, liberty and the pursuit of wealth.

Did the Bush administration screw up the communication of this fight? Of course it did. Does that make the war any less worth it? Not at all. Watching the results of the election come in, I don’t care what the justifications for the war was. When I look at Iraq as the vanguard of Western values in the Middle-East, that is what is important, not how the dream was sold. When I see increasing security in Israel and dictators throughout the region shaking in terror, I know Iraq was worth it. And so do the US soldiers who volunteered and are re-enlisting at record numbers - to go back and continue the fight. This is their day as much as anyone’s.

posted by Manos at 1:35 PM

 

[Annie]

Links, natch.

http://billroggio.com/archives/2005/10/the_constitutio_1.php

October 15, 2005
The Constitution Referendum, and the Not-So-Great Ramadan Offensive
By Bill Roggio

The Iraqis have voted on the referendum. Turnout is reported to be high in many areas of Iraq. Saddam's own hometown in Tikrit is estimated to have had a 78% turnout. Dr. Fareed Ayar, a member of the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq, estimates over 11 million particpated in the ballot, almost 70% of the registered voters. The much touted "Ramadan Offensive", designed to disrupt the election process and bring the Iraqi people to their knees has failed.

Iraqis have voted in places that were formerly parts of Zarqawi's "Islamic Republic". Turnout is not likely to be high in along some areas of the Euphrates in Anbar due to the recent operations, the uncertainty of security measures and the secrecy of the location of the polling places until the final minutes leading up to the election. But any turnout is a mcuh alters state of affairs in the regions where citizens were formerly inimidated by Zarqawi's butchers.

An Iraqi citizen raises his purple stained finger in the former "Islamic Republic of Qaim" (pictured). Iraqi soldiers now stand guard of the city of Barwana (pictured), another of Zarqawi's former strongholds where citizens were executed on the Barwana bridge for minor violations of the strict interpretations of Salafi Shariah law. A trusted source in Ramadi sends the following story of the heroism of an Iraqi poll worker after his polling site was attacked and he was wounded:

In Ramadi, a polling site received three rounds of indirect fire and five rounds of small arms fire. An Iraqi Poll Worker was injured by shrapnel and a CASEVAC was coordinated. However, it appears the Semper Fidelis attitude of the Marines has rubbed off as he refused to be evacuated and insisted on remaining at the polling site. The polling site remained operational and many Iraqi citizens displayed equal tenacity by remaining in line to vote.

Iraqi Security Forces provided the bulk of the security during election day. Motor vehicle activity was prohibited to reduce the threat of car bombings. The security was set up in three rings, with Iraqi police patrolling the inner ring: the polling places, Iraqi Army in the middle ring and U.S. and Coalition forces in the outer ring, acting as a quick reaction force if needed. The Iraqi Police and Army did the heavy lifting in providing security.

al Qaeda and their insurgent allies still tried to disrupt the election with violence. The following list of attacks is the extent of the terrorist's reach. Behold the might of al Qaeda and its fearsome Ramadan Offensive:

- Gunmen fired on two polling stations in Baghdad. No injuries.
- Office of the Iraqi Islamic Party is torched in Fallujah. No injuries.
- Office of the Iraqi Islamic Party is struck by a roadside bomb in Baghdad. No injuries.
- Office of the Iraqi Islamic Party is destroyed in an attack in Baiji. No injuries.
- Terrorists blow up the home of the local Iraqi Islamic Party chief in Ramadi. No injuries.
- Five security guards wounded in a car bombing near a mosque in Kirkuk
- Four civilians wounded in a roadside bombing targeting a U.S. patrol in Baghdad.
- Fifteen insurgents arrested as they prepared to attack polling centers in Mosul. No injuries.
- Power cut in 70% of Baghdad after power lines are sabotaged north of the city.
- Two police wounded in roadside bombing while patrolling near a polling station in Baghdad.
- Civilian killed by sniper fire near polling station in Baghdad.
- Three insurgents attacked an empty polling station South of Basra, and are captured. No Injuries.
- One policeman is wounded after a roadside bomb exploded near a polling station in western Baghdad.
- Fighting reported between a small band of insurgents and U.S. troops on patrol in Ramadi. No casualties reported.

While the halting of motor vehicle activity is likely to have had an impact on the number deadly mass casualty incidents, al Qaeda and other Islamists still had the option to use suicide vests and other methods of attack. That these tactics were not employed is curious.

Either al Qaeda did not have the resources to conduct such attacks, could not penetrate the security of the Coalition, or did not have the will to attack Iraqis exercising their democratic rights. No matter what the reason, this is a victory for the Iraqi people and another strategic defeat for al Qaeda. When given a choice between the vision of the Islamists and the ideal of freedom, Iraqis brave the jihadi's threats of violence and reject al Qaeda's hateful ideology. Every time.

 

[Annie]

Links

http://regimechangeiran.blogspot.com/2005/10/regime-run-web-site-admits-to-regimes.html

Regime-run web site admits to the regime's political defeat in soliciting support from Arabs

Iran Press News: Translation by Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi

The regime-run web site, BAZTAB, in a report admitted to the regime's political defeat in soliciting the support of the people of Iraq and the region where dozens of Arab-language media, backed by the regime, including Al Alam TV are being broadcast. BAZTAB wrote: "The Al Alam news channel was supposed to be the mouthpiece for the views of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Arab-speaking countries and was meant to compete with some of these immoral western TV networks, in order to restore the popularity of the Islamic Republic among Arabs; however, unfortunately not only has it failed to find a place among the Arabs, it has completely failed in satisfying the supporters of the Islamic regime."

This regime-run site in this report explicitly demanded that the Islamic Republic cease and desist from further meddling in the internal issues of Iraq and wrote: "To establish our aims in Iraq is a very difficult and labor-intensive process; we should not act in a way such that in a few years from now we would end up regretting those choices and be left wondering how we lost Iraq as well."

 

[Annie]

Links

http://www.usmessageboard.com/forums/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=343224

13 VS. 347

Images_65 That's the difference between now and January. That's how much better things have gotten.

During the Iraq elections last January there were 347 terrorist attacks on voters and polling places. Today there were 13.

I heard this on FOX. I haven't watched the other networks but it will be interesting to see if they report something this signifigant as widely as they do yet another single insignifigant, albeit tragic, car bombing.

The liberals are upset today. They discovered once again the Iraqi people agree with Bush: That their freedom is worth fighting and dying for. And they proved it by risking death to make a statement. They proved it by creating a remarkable Constitution in ten months -- when it took us years.

The Iraqi people are our allies in the War on Terror. And judging by their grit, restraint in the face of violence for a bigger cause, and bravery, we are lucky to have them.

Sorry, liberals, no Civil War here. Move on. Nothing to see. Maybe elsewhere you can propagandize on behalf of mass murderers to hurt the Bush administration, but not in Iraq. Not in Iraq.

UPDATE: Welcome Instapundit readers. Thanks much Glenn.

 

[Annie]

http://austinbay.net/blog/?p=636

10/15/2005
UPDATED: Iraq’s Constitution Day– The Iraqi Reports On What It Means

Major players are coming more and more to realize that dialog, alliances, common interests and just plain politics is the way to win– not violence, intimidation and terror. So this [lesson] is apparently slowly “sinking in” in our confused and frightened Iraqi mentality.

That’s The Iraqi’s assessment. Read his entire email below.

First a quick survey of initial press reports from Iraq. It appears voter turnout in Iraq’s constitutional referendum was strong and violence limited. (The violence in Toledo, Ohio, however, continues…)

ABC News reports:

Iraq’s deeply divided Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds voted in large numbers on a new constitution Saturday a referendum mostly free of insurgent violence and aimed at establishing democracy after decades of Saddam Hussein’s repressive rule. …​

Iraqi PM Ibrahim al-Jaafari:

“The constitution is a sign of civilization,” Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said after casting his ballot. “This constitution has come after heavy sacrifices. It is a new birth.”​

Kaafari echoes a sentiment I heard last year while serving on active duty in Iraq. Several Iraqis I spoke with told me they knew democracy was

“our big chance.”​

One man said it was Iraq’s chance to

“escape bad history.”​

To paraphrase a couple of other Iraqis: toppling Saddam and building a more open society was a

chance “to enter the modern world.”​

Here are the initial voter turnout stats:

Overall turnout was about 61 percent and surpassed 66 percent in seven of Iraq’s 18 provinces, including key Sunni Arab-majority ones, according to initial estimates, election officials said Saturday.

Here’s an AP link, via The Guardian. The AP’s lede:

Sunni Arabs voted in surprisingly high numbers on Iraq’s new constitution Saturday, many of them hoping to defeat it in an intense competition with Shiites and Kurds over the shape of the nation’s young democracy after decades of dictatorship. With little violence, turnout was more than 66 percent in the three most crucial provinces.

The constitution still seemed likely to pass, as expected. But the higher-than-forecast Sunni turnout made it possible the vote would be close - or even go the other way - and cast doubt on U.S. hopes that the charter would succeed in luring Sunnis away from the insurgency.

Washington hopes the constitution will be approved so Iraqis can form a permanent, representative government and the 150,000 U.S. troops can begin to withdraw.​

A quick comparison to January’s presidential election:

Overall national turnout in the January elections was 58 percent, but only 2 percent of the eligible voters cast ballots in Anbar province. Turnout was also low in the Sunni Arab provinces of Ninevah and Salahuddin.

No for “The Iraqi.” Every so often “The Iraqi” sends me emails. His topic today is the constitutional referendum. I have made a couple of minor edits and have highlighted a few points that strike me as particularly acute.

Constitution Day

Boxes are sealed, at least 61% of those eligible voted today for the new Iraqi constitution, most are expected to say yes and we have to wait for 3 more days before the final results are announced and we will see if the naysayers mustered two thirds of 3 governorates to effectively veto it.

Again there were some discrepancies but of no great statistical value, what was noticeable is [the following]:

a. Successful security measures with more Iraqi forces in sight

b. big turnout in Mosul and Falluja

c. Major players are coming more and more to realize that dialog, alliances, common interests and just plain politics is the way to win– not violence, intimidation and terror. So this [lesson] is apparently slowly “sinking in” in our confused and frightened Iraqi mentality.

The consensus there seems to be… OK enough misery we need a stable government that can provide its first order of business [Security] lets say yes and since it is not a divine thing we can always change it.

This was helped by the most recent amendments that set a precedent and drawn on the experience of Zalmay Khalilzad. No drastic changes will happen but things should improve with more accountability and more public pressure, 8 years are needed to give rise to political parties that are religion free and civil movements to be created as jobs are created and filled.

Yes we could manage that, but eyeing the kind of neighbors we have (hint: Basra) we will still need babysitting by major powers at least to keep them at bay. [ED: The Iraqi means Iran.]

Let me stray aside and say that if the trial of Saddam Hussein did really happen next Wednesday my wish is that it be fair and transparent by all current international standards, even if that means putting pressure on the government to make it so. We just cannot promulgate fairness and justice without implementing it, there are great pressures in this society to execute him for 2 or more crimes that he is convicted with, I think he should be tried for all even if that took 4 more years as each of those should be exposed, judged and entered in the annals of Iraq’s history.

“The Iraqi”
October 15 2005

UPDATE: The NY Times’ headline warns “turnout is mixed.”

Key grafs:

But the Sunni turnout - high in some cities like Mosul, low in others like Ramadi - appeared to be insufficient to defeat the new charter, and Iraqi officials predicted that it would pass.

Turnout appeared to be highest in Shiite and Kurdish areas, although in many places, including Baghdad, it seemed not to approach the levels seen in January, when throngs of voters stood in long lines to cast their ballots for an interim government. Both Shiites and Kurds were expected to vote overwhelmingly in favor of the constitution.

The day unfolded relatively calmly, with only scattered attacks on polling sites and troops around the country. Most vehicular traffic was banned, and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi and American troops and police officers were out in force.

Iraqi elections officials said that final voting results would probably not be ready until the middle of the week.

Ah, but pessimism persists:

The mood on the streets of many Iraqi cities, even in Shiite areas, appeared markedly less enthusiastic than on Jan. 30, when millions of Iraqis braved an onslaught of violence to cast ballots and celebrate in a vast outpouring of pro-democratic sentiment.

On Saturday in Baghdad, streets were noticeably bare of pedestrians, polling centers were less busy, and voters exhibited little enthusiasm.

“I sense that the turnout will be lower this time,” said Zainab Kudir, the chief poll worker at the Marjayoun Primary School in a predominantly Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad. “People feel their needs have not been met. There is no security. There are no jobs.”

Looks like overall participation is up three points, 61 percent to 58 percent.

A couple of interesting sidelights (the article is written by John Burns and Dexter Filkins– both superb correspondents):

At Al Afak Elementary School in the predominantly Sunni neighborhood of Mufrek in Baquba, more than 1,000 people voted in the first four hours. By late morning, the lines were backed up into the school’s inner courtyard.

Voting centers were also set up in the American-run prisons at Abu Ghraib and Camp Bucca for some 13,000 detainees, many of them suspected insurgents. There was even a polling station at Camp Cropper, where Mr. Hussein is incarcerated. There was no word on whether he had cast a ballot.

But is this cause for optimism, as we approach the end of the article?

Of 6,100 polling stations across the country, about 128 did not open, mostly for security reasons. A roadside bomb struck an Iraqi Army patrol in Saadiya, north of Baghdad, killing three soldiers.

On Jan. 30, when more than eight million Iraqis went to the polls to choose the Shiite-led transitional government that led the drafting of the constitution, American military commanders reported nearly 350 insurgent attacks, including numerous suicide bombings, the highest level of violence for any day of the war. On that occasion, American troops were a highly visible presence on Baghdad’s streets, providing outer security at many checkpoints leading to polling centers.

On Saturday, the 150,000-member American force was much less evident, with perimeter security at the polling centers left mostly to the fast-growing Iraqi security forces.

In many areas, the only sign of the American military occupation came from low-flying Apache attack helicopters circling over known areas of insurgent strength, and occasional patrols by armored Humvees, with turret gunners scanning the streets.

Maj. Muhammad Faris Ali , a military intelligence officer responsible for a wide area of northwestern Baghdad, attributed the relative calm to the Iraqi army’s takeover of duties that were still assigned to Americans in January.

“We are Iraqis, and we know our people,” he said. “The Americans have a good army, but they don’t know Iraqis as we know them, and that makes for much better security.”
​

Could it be that Iraqi security forces are really improving?

Of course. On January 3, 2005 I appeared on CSPAN’s Morning Journal and discussed the Iraqi forces’ positive trendline. But no, we’ve had to endure ten months of doom mongers and naysayers.

UPDATE 2: Roger L. Simon has noticed something.

Key grafs:

Because the mainstream media has done its best to hypnotize the public into believing the “failure” of the American democracy project in Iraq, it is worth comparing some dates:

Operation Iraqi Freedom - began March 19, 2003
Election to ratify constitution for a democratic Iraq - October 14, 2005

That’s two years and seven months.

US Declaration of Independence - July 4, 1776
Completion of US Constitution - September 17, 1787 (took effect 1789)

That’s eleven years and two months. (I could have begun with the Boston Tea Party which would have added another three years.)

Anybody want to take a bet about how history will regard Operation Iraqi Freedom? No wonder the New York Times is singing a (relatively) different tune this morning.

FWIW, I used to live down the street from Zabars, Roger. And a genuine smorgasbord it is.