Iraq the Vote

This is the real Iraqi resistance

Not a coward with a masked face and a bared gun. An open face, and an ink-stained finger advertised to the world -- and to those who vowed to kill her for doing what that ink proves she did.

Resistance to fascists, old-style and new-style; resistance to tyrants, religious and secular. Resistance to fear and to the dismissive attitude of so much of the Western world that should know better. Resistance to the people who look at a map of Iraq and only see the face of Shrubbie McChimpler. See these faces instead:

For the first time, we have an opportunity to give our opinion in all justice and equality and without pressures. We all have the same desire to elect people who represent the real sovereignty and build a new Iraq, and Iraq of justice, stability, without oppression, away from confessionalism and nepotism where all the citizens will be equal. I hope all Iraqis hopes will be fulfilled through these elections.

From Friends of Democracy; I told you they'd have good stuff.

Instapundit runs some highlights of Steve Stirling's comment-Fiskings at Democratic Underground, on the day when Iraqis defied the sneerers and took a step toward reclaiming their country:

"I had to turn off CNN because they kept focusing on the so-called "voters" and barely mentioned the resistance movements at all."

--the one trying to kill the people who want to vote and chose their own government? The one that's declared "fierce war" on democracy, and said they want to kill anyone who votes?Fortunately, their threats turned out to be mostly empty.

"Where are the freedom fighters today? Are their voices silenced because some American puppets cast a few ballots?"

-- 8,000,000 ballots. Turns out most Iraqis are... "American puppets?"

"I can't believe the Iraqis are buying into this "democracy" bullshit."

-- sorry, fellah, down here on Planet Reality, most people want democracy. Including Arabs.

"Maybe they're afraid and felt they had to vote. That's the only way I can explain it to myself."

-- since they were threatened with death if they _did_ vote, there's a bit of a contradiction there.In fact, they put on their festive clothes and in many cases danced to the polls, elevating their fingers to defy the "insurgents" who'd threatened to kill anyone whose finger was marked with the ink showing they'd voted.

My Chomskyite co-worker was grinning last week over reports of a low turnout among expatriates. I'm sure he'll have a different line today about why the elections were a fraud and a failure. How any sane liberal soul, even the most ardent Bush-hater, could want this to fail is beyond me.

If the people who say such things wanted to understand what moved those millions of Iraqis into their streets yesterday, to walk defiantly or joyfully to their polling places, they should ask Vietpundit:

As a Vietnamese-American, I've always felt that voting is not only a right, but also a privilege and a duty. I've always voted in every election. I could save some time and avoid some inconvenience by voting by absentee ballot, but I refuse to do so, and have always voted in person. To me, the act of voting is almost a spiritual experience. I like the atmosphere of going to the polling place, the waiting in line (usually no more than 10 minutes) and talking with other voters, and the physical act of punching the ballot itself. It's probably one of the last communal civic activities left in America today.

Call me naive if you like. But if you've been through what I (and countless other Vietnamese-Americans) have been through to earn the right to vote, you'd understand. Just look at the Iraqis today.

He's right about all of it. It is one of our last communal activities. I always think of deTocqueville when I go down the steps into my polling place, into that little mix of different people who have this one common thread, but it's a thread of steel and gold.