Sunday, February 01, 2009

In Iraq, the People Have Spoken -- Peacefully

What if they held an election and the terrorists stayed home? From MSNBC:
BAGHDAD - Iraqis held their most peaceful election since the fall of Saddam Hussein on Saturday, and voting for provincial councils ended without a single major attack reported anywhere in the country.
In the NBC Nightly News report of the elections, below, we see how women are beginning to play a more prominent role in Iraqi government and society.


Yesterday's election occurred 1 year, 9 months and 11 days after the Senate Majority Leader's shameful attempt to preemptively surrender:



Our new president also opposed the surge, of course, and he won his party's nomination in part because he alone among the major candidates opposed the war in Iraq from the start. I'm very grateful that he was not the commander in chief in 2007, when the new strategy was put in place. Now that it's Mr. Obama's war, I'm heartened by the fact that he kept in place the Defense Secretary who oversaw the change in strategy.

"I congratulate the people of Iraq on holding significant provincial elections today," Mr Obama said in a statement. "This important step forward should continue the process of Iraqis taking responsibility for their future." Thanks to President Bush, they have the opportunity to do so.

(Photo at top is from PUK Media, where there are dozens more photos from the voting.)

2 comments:

  1. I heard during the election, the driving of vehicles was prohibited. This was to eliminate the possibility of car bombs.

    Yet, the Iraqis came out in droves to vote.

    I doubt the voters in the U.S. would do likewise!

    ReplyDelete
  2. It was exciting to see all the people that came out to vote. What a day to see, people being able to once again voice their desires for the rebuilding of their nation.

    ReplyDelete

This blog has moved to http://blog.kirkpetersen.net, and I would love to have your comment there. This post and all the others have been copied to the new blog -- you may need to use the Search function to find a particular post

Comments have been closed on this blogspot.com version of the blog. If you came here via a bookmark, please change your bookmark to http://blog.kirkpetersen.net.