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The forecast called for rain in Iraq on election day - it didn't happen.
A woman gave birth at her polling place after voting - literal new life to accompany the birth of a new democracy.
Amazing stories from the MilBloggers in Iraq. Today's Dawn Patrol is a salute to them. They respond to the elections there with a mixture of triumph and relief - and a fatalistic expectation that what they've helped make happen will be sneered at by the "some". Others speculate on the future of the emerging democracy they helped build - and they like what they see. In other words, optimistic on winning - but pessimistic on ever having that victory acknowledged.
And as should be obvious from this compilation, they are absolutely plugged in and aware of what's going on there and back home.
Many are about to come home, in fact - and this event makes a fine ending to a long effort. Others will "soldier on" - we can only hope with less opposition on many fronts.
Enough of me; they speak for themselves...
Trevor - The Will to Exist
Today is election day. Iraqis are voting. A mortar just went off in the distance. So what? The insurgents are going to lose and Iraqis are going to exercise free will by voting. Today is a great day and even though I am nervous and wary, I am honored to be participating in this process. History is being made in this nation today, and it will ripple outward from Baghdad across the Middle East and further.
Tsunamis wipe out everything in their path. It is my hope that by being here, I have played a small role in creating a tsunami that will scour Iraq, cleansing it of head choppers, bombers and dictators.
Major K
"Every purple finger is a bullet in the chest of terrorism."
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The enthusiasm today around the Iraqi Headquarters was contagious. As the sun came up, the place was buzzing again with activity. We rolled out two large convoys to go take the Senior Staff and Soldiers to check on the security status of the polling centers in our sectors. While they were there, several of them voted, since they had not done so during the past few days. A few of the Iraqi Officers laughed when I inspected their fingertips for purple ink when they returned to the TOC.
America's Son
It seemed like a city-wide block party. Iraqis came to the polls chanting, waving flags and singing. Bingo and I have been in the city of Ubadie for the past few days conducting explosive sweeps through the girl's school where the voting will take place. Since I have been here in Iraq, I have not heard celebration such as what I witnessed yesterday. It was a surreal atmosphere. At one time, I looked at one of the Iraqi soldiers and asked him "Are they happy?", as a flag waving throng made their way down one of the streets of the city. "Yes. They say 'Long live Iraq' and 'Today is a great day for all Iraq', he responded as he thrust his ink stained finger in the air. It was indeed a great day for all of us.
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As I have said all along, we are doing the right things here in Iraq and yesterday's voter turnout was yet another indication of this fact. "American Success In Iraq"...stick that in your pipe and smoke it Mr. Kerry, Mr. Murtha, Mr. Dean.
Matthew Loggins - Hints... Allegations
Yesterday could not have gone any better..when the only problems we had were over crowding, and running out of ballets...it's a good day..Regardless of what people think about the war..the fact is these people just exercised their right to vote in way larger numbers then we ever have...over 70% of the registered voters, voted...wow.
GIGotti78 - Ask the Soldiers
How do you men feel the elections today, (Thursday December 15, 2005) went down?
What surprised me was the amount of Sunni Arabs that decided to exercise their right to vote. Not only that, but their reaction to reporters asking how they felt about voting.
Sgt. Dan - J Barne's Coffee Shop
Oh an yes, yesterday was election day. My first day back consisted of watching Iraqi families stroll the streets of Habbaniyah. At one point a herd of little kids even gave us the peace sign. Of course all the guys can say how they don't care what happens and how tough and rock solid they are but as soon as a peace sign is flashed by a little kid they all melt.
Kincy - My Days at Division
The Weather Officer forecast rain for today, but clear skies held. That's good news for the millions of Iraqis that got out and voted. They got to make history and stay dry in the process. The results will be some time in coming, but today was an unqualified success. Ignore the stories that lead with "Bombs" or "Explosions". Today was a great day and everyone should be smiling.
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Even Reuters couldn't help but put a positive spin on this (full disclosure: I used to work for Reuters)
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One of the polling centers featured a live birth. I guess mom decided to sneak in a vote beforehand, but junior had other ideas. Mom and son are doing fine.
(Greyhawk notes: it rained the day after) But the weather guy wasn't the only pessimist:
BUCK SARGENT - AMERICAN CITIZEN SOLDIER
Great Moments in Pessimism
Ebenezer Scrooge: "Bah humbug!"
Homer J. Simpson: "If something's hard, it's not worth doing."
The DNC, NYT and CNN: "We can't win! Bring them home! They have no plan!"
Sgt Ron Long - They Call us Doc (just got home from Iraq!)
As I was flipping channels, I saw that Anderson Cooper (on CNN) was interviewing an Iraqi female poll worker, asking her of her opinion of the "occupation" by US forces. She had nothing but good things to say concerning the assistance that the US and Coalition forces were giving to the Iraqi people and I could just feel those at CNN just cringing as they weren't getting the answers that they had hoped.
More fellow 278th cavalrymen echoing my feelings about the historical, Iraqi elections
CPT B - One Marine's View
Anderson Cooper was in a voting facility in Ramadi interviewing Iraqi citizens and appeared to be in the way, blocking the voters from trying to submit their votes while he did his report.
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Like back in Oct, today proved that although still scared, the Iraqi people were fed up with the insurgent intimidation and wanted a change. Now, in Dec the Iraqi Army successfully voted yesterday and today the entire country was able to vote freely and without intimidation.
From the insurgency view, America has not only won the fight in the street but now it has pretty much won the Iraqi people over as well. Insurgents can’t stand to see Iraq become independent and grow. The mere fact that men, women and Iraqi soldiers are voting means the insurgency is on its way out, it reinforces the beginning of their end for the insurgency. We see people coming freely to the voting sites, we see a different Iraqi, one who wants a change and is doing their part to make it happen.
ssgjoseph
Well, the elections pretty smoothly around here. That's a blessing. Now that they're over hopefully we can get mail now! The roads went "black" for 3 days because of the elections, I guess it was deemed too dangerous for US forces to be out on the roads.
Sarge's Space
The elections have come and gone and polling is complete, now we await the long counts. Our area was a resouinding success and we sustained zero casualties and had zero incidents yesterday! That is just great by my book, and should be in everybodies. I expect it is in part due to your thoughts and prayers and we were rewarded by them, thank you all.
TJ - Basic Training
1715 and all is quiet. 8 hours on top of our hill overlooking Baghdad today and no explosions heard and only 1 short burst of small arms fire. Definately a positive sign.
Phil - Phil and Becky
We had a nice quiet day following yesterday's national election. Maybe the insurgents were tired, maybe they decided to call it quits. I'm not a gambler, but I wouldn't hold my breath that it is the latter. :)
We celebrated the end of the election by serving a feast in the chow hall. It was originally scheduled for Christmas Eve, but we moved it to today for some reason.
The Mobilized - a mobilized year
In less than three years, we’ve gone from having a country with a ruthless dictator to one that has a democratically elected, constitutionally based government.
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Over the last decade or so, we’ve gotten used to immediacy. I’m as guilty of this as anybody. I often get impatient if an email that someone just sent me takes more than a few minutes to arrive. And, God forbid if a webpage takes more than a minute to load on my computer. With regard to Iraq, if the best case scenario is not achieved in a quick time period, much of the media will conclude that the sky is falling and we’re heading down that slippery slope.
Phil P - A Soldier's Diary There will be negative people and ignorant idiots who will down play this day, but freedom is on the march! Mark my words, the next year here will be a complete turn around in Iraq. Our troops will slowly start to pull back and the Iraqi Army and Police will continue to be given more and more responsibility. This war is far from over, but this next year will be a year of progress that will show off the hard work and sacrifice of the past three.
Mike the Marine - From the Halls to the Shores
Some Iraqis want to install a hard-line Islamic theocracy in the model of Iran. Some Iraqis are voting simply because they figure if the process works, then the Americans will leave. But most, I think, are voting because they actually give a damn what happens to their country and want a safe environment for their families and children. They want a say in how things run. And even the folks who are only voting as a means to the end of gettin’ us gone… well, that’s fine by me.
Because, you see, they can hate us or they can love us. But as long as they respect us, and love their kids more than they hate us… hell, I’ll call that a win.
I’d like to extend a personal thank you to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi for that one. When he and his al-Qaeda shmucks blew up those hotels in Jordan, it wasn’t just the Jordanians who noticed.
StrypGia - All Quiet on the Southwest Asian Front
Doing a lot of preparatory work for the handover to our replacements. Been keeping me very busy. Apologies.
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Things were very calm for Election Day. Just a few IEDs, one on a newly arrived Iraqi Army unit that came outfitted with (of all things) old T-55 tanks. Good gods, those things are clanky, loud, smoke-spewing monsters...Hard to kill with a typical IED, though. The new Police Commandos are also doing some good work in town. This is 'good work' on the Iraqi unit scale, mind, so don't expect any miracles. But its good to have more folks on our sid....er...at least not actively shooting at us?
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I'm happy for the Iraqis having a fairly peaceful election, but when they're happy, that means one thing: Celebratory fire.
What bloody idiot first thought that firing off multiple full magazine AK-47 blasts into the sky was a good way to show you're happy? What goes up, does come down, moron! It's bad when the national team wins a big football match....yeesh. That's why my detail will most likely consist of filling sandbags and placing them on the roofs of buildings to protect against incoming fire.
Mustang 09 - Six more months
This will be my last post from Iraq. In a few days, I will leave this camp to begin the trip home. My office is no longer mine as of this morning, and my internet connectivity will be very spotty from here on out. I will post once I get home, from my living room after hugging my kids and kissing the most important person in my life.
My Darling Wife, Pam.
This year has changed me. Pam and I have talked about those changes, and I know she fears them a little. Physically, my knees hurt more, my hearing is shot, and my hands get numb from the constant weight of body armor. My hair is greyer, the bags under my eyes darker. Emotionally, I have changed too. Don’t worry darling. I am returning home a different man, but I believe a better man. Certainly a man far more thankful for the blessings in my life.
