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January 30, 2005

Iraqis "Broke A Barrier Of Fear."

Indeed the Iraqis have broken through the barrier of fear, with with an estimated 8 million (60 percent) turning out to cast votes in the face of threats and boycott attempts:

Al Qaeda's Iraqi wing had declared war on the "infidel" polls, threatening an election day bloodbath.

But most Iraqis were undeterred.

Samir Hassan, 32, who lost his leg in a car bomb blast last year, said as he waited to vote in Baghdad: "I would have crawled here if I had to. I don't want terrorists to kill other Iraqis like they tried to kill me."

It is surprising to see a New York Times headline entitled "Voting, Not Violence, Is the Big Story on Arab TV," but even the Old Gray Lady cannot ignore the unmitigated success of Iraqi turnout on this historic day. (via Powerline)

A number of world leaders had praise for this historic event underway in Iraq. Yes, you read correctly - both France's Jacques Chirac and Germany's Gerhard Schroeder were positive in their comments, as did the UN's Kofi Annan.

And then there were the Democrats. John Kerry went on Meet The Press and could only manage to say that the election would have a "kind of legitimacy," and that the United States should not try to "overhype" the election. Iraqis, who braved threats of violence and actual violence, cannot be expected to warm up to those remarks made by Mr. Kerry. One can only assume that they sleep much better knowing that Mr. Kerry is not anywhere near the Oval Office.

That this election has been such a resounding success must be a slap in the face to Lefty Democrats, who have as their (and the entire party currently) most visible spokespersons Ted Kennedy and Barbara Boxer. Howard Dean is about to join this club as DNC chair. Numerous moderate Democrats, who are likely to be supportive of our actions in Iraq and today's historic vote, are not likely to be pleased with these three as the current visible faces of the Democratic party.

Some put it more bluntly:

Moderate Democrats must be puzzled and at least somewhat concerned that their leadership has allowed itself to become so infected with Bush hatred that they can no longer recognize opportunities to build trust with the American electorate on national security. The automatic gainsay of anything accomplished by the Bush administration has almost completely destroyed their credibility -- and the measured and intelligent reactions of Chirac, Schroeder, and Annan shows how badly the Democrats screwed up today.

How about that? The Democrats have stuck their neck out and taken a negative stance on the election in Iraq, while even Schroeder, Chirac and Annan have all been very positive. Who would ever have thought that the party of FDR, Truman and Kennedy (John!) would have come to its current state, with no sign whatsoever of a change on the horizon.

Congratulations Iraqis! You have made history and done yourselves proud before the entire world.

UPDATE:

None of this means that the insurgency in Iraq has finally been beaten down or that only plain sailing lies ahead. But the voter turnouts certainly suggests that the electoral results will stick. It will be very hard to de-legitimize the whole process or cast aside the ballots as if the elections had never happened; not after the sacrifice that the Shi'ites, Kurds and the Sunnis (the risk was all the greater for them) have endured simply to exercise their choice. Commentators have pointed out that elected candidates may subsequently express views which may be regarded as anti-American; but if the US, which is the occupying power, is to be bound by the result, as is consistent with the concept of the return of sovereignty to the Iraqi people, why should 'insurgents' or the Left be able to say 'I won't accept the elections as legitimate'? While that will not prevent them from dismissing the elections or making disparaging noises, all but the most obtuse will understand that they can't be undone and will move on instead to the next point of criticism. Which means the elections weren't a joke after all, except on Cole. And did we win? Who knows? But many Iraqis think they did.

And, of course:

I’m just glad I’m stupid enough to be hopeful. I’m glad I’m naive enough to suspect Iraqis actually wanted to vote. I’m very glad I’m not so aslosh with solipsistic hatred that any success in Iraq makes me trot out a cynical riposte so the rest of my buddies on Olympus will nod in wry assent. I’m glad that a picture of a mother holding her daughter to cast the ballot reminds me that this is number two in a series. All other things aside – which is a difficult thing to posit, I know – I’m glad to be on the side of holding elections. In the end I’m glad to be glad. And now I will go skip through the daisies and sing happy songs about bunnies, because I am obviously a fool. What was the cover story of the Village Voice I saw in the library today? “Bush’s plan to destroy the world.” Destroy it some more, George.

Election turnout may have been as high as 72 percent.

Posted at 10:21 PM Pacific