Official Day of Freedom in Iraq

Many Iraqis are proud to hold up their purple ink stained finger as proof of voter's participation. Despite about 30+ Iraqis killed and numerous people injured but people came to vote anyway. An Historic Turnout! In some polling stations they are reporting as high as a 90% voters turnout. Overall turnout is expected, according to the latest figures, to be at least 72%. An official figure will be known over the next 1 to 2 weeks. Compare Iraq's voters turnout to the United States' own highest voters turnout during the 1960s was 63%. Simply mind boggling. The first true sign of a spreading democracy.

You can almost hear many of the Liberals screaming and tearing their hairs out of their heads. First, they get eggs on their faces during the 2004 USA election (btw, John Kerry lost) coming out with President Bush at 51% - a mandate. Second, more eggs on their faces as a result of an extremely, extremely successful Iraqi voters turnout with at least 70% turnout - a clear signal that they want to finally take control of their destiny. Regardless, but the final tally will be much, much greater than 50%. A sign of the beginning of the end of the United States and coalition forces role. And when that end will come? That will all depend on how the Iraqis want to finally take control of their destiny.

All this would have been impossible under the U.N. sanctions who took advantage of taking billions and billions of food for oil money while they would have been all too happy to have kept Saddam in power despite the years and years of violation of the cease fire agreement.
Hey, yo! Most of you Liberal weenies, United Nation people, France, Europe (et al) who whined incessantly about Iraq's so called "quagmire" and other extreme hyperboles, and claimed that a democratic voting process would not be able to take place (or it's "too early" because of the threat) in Iraq and so on and so forth ad nauseum reminence of screaming "fire" and "the sky is falling" on a daily basis.........screw you.

Most Republicans and some Democrats have vindicated themselves with this positive voters turnout in Iraq and abroad. Several hours remain for those living here in the United States to vote. The final tally will simply be nothing but STUPENDOUS! Again, this is not the end of the voting. This was a vote for the National Assembly. The next vote, which will likely be a much higher result. This whole thing is only but the beginning of a democracy in action. It ain't over til all the troops come home if the Iraq people have the means to finally have control over their country and destiny. It'll be another 1 to 2 years until troop leave, or until Iraqi govt tell them to leave.

October 15, 2005 - Date by which a national vote is to be held regarding the ratification of the
proposed constitution.

December 15,2005 - Date that elections for a permanent government take place if the constitutionis ratified. If the constitution is not ratified, this is the date by which elections
for a new national assembly are to be held.

Semper Fi.


USAToday - Iraqis defy insurgents, cast ballots in election
BAGHDAD — Defying suicide bombers and mortar fire that killed at least 36 people, Iraqis voted Sunday in their first free election in more than 50 years.
Polls now have closed across the nation. Explosions rocked Baghdad throughout the morning as insurgents tried to disrupt an election to form a national assembly, but election centers successfully opened across the country. (Audio: USA TODAY's Steve Komarow from Baghdad) Iraqis formed long lines in some cities but appeared only sporadically in others. An Iraqi election official claimed Sunday that 72% of eligible voters had turned out nationwide. The official, Adel al-Lami of the Independent Electoral Commission, offered no overall figures of the actual number of Iraqis who have voted to back up the claim.

Before the election, Iraqi officials had predicted that up to 8 million of the 14 million voters — just over 57% — would participate. (Related item: How the Iraqi process works)

"This is our day. We should vote. It's freedom," said Firdoos Rasheed Al-Jaffer, 58, and after voting at Ataba bin Khazwa girls secondary school in a West Baghdad neighborhood.



CNN - Iraqis vote amid violence
Polls close on country's first free vote in a half-century

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Polls have closed in Iraq's first free election in a half century, with the independent election commission reporting a 72 percent turnout of registered voters nationwide by mid-afternoon amid attacks and threats of attacks to disrupt the vote.
The commission's Adil Al-Lami and Safwat Rashid did not release figures for Iraq's largest province, al-Anbar -- west of Baghdad, including Falluja and Ramadi -- or the northwestern Nineveh province, which includes Mosul.

"There has been a vast turnout in Iraq," Rashid said.
"The news is freedom has won," Al-Lami said. "We have conquered terrorism."



FOXNEWS - Polls Close in Historic Iraqi Elections
BAGHDAD, Iraq — The polls in Iraq have closed, ending the country's first open elections in more than 50 years and setting a course for what U.S. officials hope will be a long democratic future.

All around the country, Iraqis defied threats of violence and cast their votes. An initial estimate of turnout from the Independent Electoral Commission indicated that 72 percent of eligible Iraqi voters had turned out to cast their ballots.

But the day was not without bloodshed. Eight homicide bombings and mortar strikes at polling stations killed at least 36 people. A Web site statement purportedly from insurgency leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's group claimed responsibility for the election-day attacks.

"What we're seeing here is the voice of freedom," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in the first response to the election from the Bush administration.

"Every indication is that the election in Iraq is going better than expected," Rice said on ABC's "This Week." "No, it's not a perfect election," Rice conceded, but she called it a positive development no one had foreseen three years ago when Saddam Hussein was still the dictator of Iraq.

Iraqi politicians also cast the elections as a huge success.

Casting his vote, Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi called it "the first time the Iraqis will determine their destiny."

"We have defeated the terrorists today," Ahmad Chalabi, a secular Shiite who is running for the National Assembly on the United Iraqi Alliance list, told FOX News. "The winds of freedom are sweeping across Iraq."



MSNBC News - Iraqi voter turnout picks up despite violence
Al-Zarqawi group claims attacks on polling stations; 31 killed
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqis danced and clapped with joy Sunday as they voted in their country’s first free election in a half-century, defying insurgents who launched deadly suicide bombings and mortar strikes at polling stations. Attacks across the country killed at least 31 people.
After a slow start, men and women in flowing black abayas — often holding babies — formed long lines, although there were pockets of Iraq where the streets and polling stations were deserted. Voters prohibited from using private cars walked, hitched rides on military buses and trucks, and some even carried the elderly in their arms, as officials said turnout appeared higher than expected.

Casting his vote, Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi called it "the first time the Iraqis will determine their destiny."

Turnout was brisk in Shiite Muslim and mixed Shiite-Sunni neighborhoods. Even in the small town of Askan in the so-called "triangle of death" south of Baghdad, 20 people waited in line at each of several polling centers. More walked toward the polls.

"This is democracy," said Karfia Abbasi, holding up a thumb stained with purple ink to prove she had voted



ABC News - Iraqis Cast Their Votes, Despite Violence
Iraqis Defy Insurgents to Cast Ballots as Polls Close in Historic Vote; Attacks Kill at Least 36

BAGHDAD, Iraq Jan 30, 2005 — Iraqis danced and clapped with joy Sunday as they voted in their country's first free election in a half-century, defying insurgents who launched eight suicide bombings and mortar strikes at polling stations. The attacks killed at least 36 people.
Polling stations officially closed as of 5 p.m., but the elecion commission said anyone still in line would be allowed to vote. An Iraqi election official said that 72 percent of eligible Iraqi voters had turned out so far nationwide.


And lastly, to earn the spot at the bottom of the totem pole....


CBS News/AP - Iraqi Voters Defy Insurgents
(ain't going to bother here, they reported more on killings than the good news on voting. Typical cBS news.)