Iraqis Brave Bombs to Vote in Their Millions

[RonOnGuitar]

So far so good. The Iraqi people defied the terrorist thug's threats and voted. Alright! -

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Iraqis Brave Bombs to Vote in Their Millions



Jan 30, 9:12 AM (ET)



By Luke Baker



BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Some came on crutches, others walked for miles then struggled to read the ballot, but across Iraq, millions turned out to vote Sunday, defying insurgents who threatened a bloodbath.



Suicide bombs and mortars killed at least 27 people, but voters still came out in force for the first multi-party poll in 50 years. In some places they cheered with joy at their first chance to cast a free vote, in others they shared chocolates.



Even in Falluja, the Sunni city west of Baghdad that was a militant stronghold until a U.S. assault in November, a steady stream of people turned out, confounding expectations. Lines of veiled women clutching their papers waited to vote.



"We want to be like other Iraqis, we don't want to always be in opposition," said Ahmed Jassim, smiling after he voted.



In Baquba, a rebellious city northeast of Baghdad, spirited crowds clapped and cheered at one voting station. In Mosul, scene of some of the worst insurgent attacks in recent months, U.S. and local officials said turnout was surprisingly high.



One of the first to vote was President Ghazi al-Yawar, a Sunni Muslim Arab with a large tribal following, who cast his ballot inside Baghdad's fortress-like Green Zone.



"Thanks be to God," he told reporters, emerging from the booth with his right index finger stained with bright blue ink to show he had voted. "I hope everyone will go out and vote."



In the relatively secure Kurdish north, people flowed steadily to the polls. One illiterate man in Arbil, 76-year-old Said Rasool, came alone and was turned away, unable to read the ballot paper. He said he would return with someone to help.



Even in the so-called "triangle of death," a hotbed of Sunni insurgency south of Baghdad, turnout was solid, officials said.



FESTIVE VOTING



In mainly Shi'ite Basra, Iraq's second biggest city, hundreds of voters queued patiently at polling centers. "I am not afraid," said Samir Khalil Ibrahim. "This is like a festival for all Iraqis."



A small group cheered in Baghdad as Sharif Ali bin al-Hussein, a descendant of Iraq's last king, went to the polls. Ali leads a constitutional monarchy slate in the election.



Western Baghdad polling stations were busy, with long queues of voters. Most went about the process routinely, filling in their ballots and leaving quickly without much emotion.



Others brought chocolates for those waiting in line, and shared festive juice drinks inside the voting station.



Samir Hassan, 32, who lost his leg in a car bomb blast in October, was determined to vote. "I would have crawled here if I had to. I don't want terrorists to kill other Iraqis like they tried to kill me. Today I am voting for peace," he said, leaning on his metal crutches, determination in his reddened eyes.



In Sadr City, a poor Shi'ite neighborhood of northeast Baghdad, thick lines of voters turned out, women in black abaya robes in one line, men in another.



Some of the first to vote countrywide were policemen, out in force to protect polling centers from attack, part of draconian security measures put in place by U.S. and Iraqi officials.



In Samarra, a restive Sunni-Shi'ite city north of Baghdad, the crackle of gunfire was heard minutes after polls opened.



After a few hours, only about 100 people had voted at one of two polling sites. One woman, covered head-to-toe in black robes, kept her face concealed, but said she voted with pride.



In nearby Baiji, some people were unable to vote because electoral officials failed to turn up. "We are waiting for the manager with the key," said an election worker, apologizing.



"VOTE FOR HUMANITY"



In the shrine city of Najaf in the Shi'ite heartland, hundreds of people walked calmly to polling stations. Security around Najaf, attacked before, was some of the tightest.



"This is a wedding for all Iraqis. I congratulate all Iraqis on their newfound freedom and democracy," said Jaida Hamza, dressed in a black Islamic veil that also hid her face.



Shi'ites, who make up 60 percent of Iraq's people, are expected to win the vote, overturning years of oppression.



In Kirkuk, a city divided between Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen, Kurds turned out in force, as expected, but there were signs Arabs and Turkmen were boycotting, angered by what they see as voting rules that favor Kurds.



One of the biggest surprises was Mosul, a mixed Sunni Arab and Kurd city in the far north. "So far it's gone very well, much better than expected," said a U.S. army officer.



Baghdad's mayor was overcome with emotion by the turnout of voters at City Hall, where he said thousands were celebrating.



"I cannot describe what I am seeing. It is incredible. This is a vote for the future, for the children, for the rule of law, for humanity, for love," Alaa al-Tamimi told Reuters.

[MIKE BURN]

Quote:

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Iraq voter turnout lowered



Aljazeera, Monday 31 January 2005, 16:53 Makka Time, 13:53 GMT



Election reports from Baghdad indicate that voter turnout was particularly low in the capital, while Iraq's poll panel has backtracked on its claim that 72% of all registered voters cast their ballots.



Iraqi journalist Ziyad al-Samarrai told Aljazeera on Monday that voter turnout in Baghdad was poor, especially in the al-Yarmuk, al-Amiriya, and al-Adhamiya districts - the main population centres in central and western Baghdad.



The Independent Election Commission of Iraq (IECI) said on Sunday its initial tally of 72% had been little more than a guess based on local estimates.



The panel has since revised the estimated turnout at 60%.



Al-Samarrai reported that political beliefs, rather than security factors, were the reasons behind Iraqis' boycott of the elections.



Most citizens interviewed by the journalist said the elections reflected nothing but the will of the United States and was for its own interests.



The Iraqi journalist also said the security situation in Iraq was deteriorating. He reported that clashes erupted on Monday morning between fighters and US forces in Baghdad while US helicopters hovered over the city.

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Quote:

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Monday, 31, January, 2005 (20, Dhul Hijjah, 1425)

Naseer Al-Nahr, Arab News



Polls were largely deserted throughout the day in many cities of the Sunni Triangle north and west of the capital, particularly Fallujah, Ramadi and Beiji. In Baghdad’s mainly Sunni Arab area of Azamiyah, the neighborhood’s four polling centers did not open at all, residents said.



Several hundred people turned out to vote in eastern districts of the heavily Sunni city of Mosul — Iraq’s third largest city and a center for insurgent violence in past months. But in western parts of Mosul, clashes erupted between guerrillas and Iraqi soldiers.



Farid Ayar, spokesman for the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq, indicated that around eight million people may have voted, or about 60 percent of registered voters.

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[answerraire]

Wise folks would do well to chart somewhere between the two extremes which greeted the news of the weekend's vote in Iraq. We have the triumphalist route, which takes the admittedly impressive 60 percent turnout figure and immediately starts doing cartwheels. Then there's the stubborn charade camp, which holds that the election does not fundamentally change matters on the ground, alter the fact that the U.S. still calls the shots in the country for the foreseeable future, or immediately reverse the mistake of invading. Both camps get ahead of themselves.



Even at 90 percent turnout, all of Iraq's problems would not be solved and the terrorist cells would not be impressed, so Bushies should go easy on the backslapping over the good turnout. The bad guys still have to be defeated; they are not going to look at the vote totals and just quit. At the same time, some 8 million Iraqis are now on record as wanting something approaching a normal country, which demonstrates to the world, and most of all to Iraqis themselves, that self-government is possible and that civil society in Iraq can knit itself back together eventually. This remains the best hope for getting American troops home.



There is simply no other way to describe the weekend's election except as a wholly successful and necessary first step to a pluralistic, roughly democratic state. Not a done deal, not a sure thing, but certainly a happy outcome for everyone who prefers peace to war and messy politics to deadly violence.



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www.nypost.com/postopinio.../39145.htm