Good for Iraq

The Iraqi elections have concluded; the results have yet to be certified, but I think everyone is breathing a sigh of relief that the voting was largely untainted by the widespread violence that was expected, and this country that we thrust into the democratic process may surprise us after all.
There were some instances of violence, one disturbing in particular was the use of a handicapped child to carry out a suicide bomb, but in a country where for so long, they've only known one candidate who always won 100% of the vote, or people died, I take no small degree of comfort that the Iraqis seemed to have embraced their empowerment in the voting booths.
The thing that strikes me most about this election is this. Fifty-seven percent of the Iraqi population voted in this election. Now there is some talk that the Sunnis might not be as well represented because their turnout was low, but 57% of this country's population voted.
Do you know that 60% of Americans voted in this past November's presidential election, and that was the highest percentage since 1968? That is absolutely pathetic. The percentage is typically between 45 to 50%.
What a sobering thought.
This country of ours, the bedrock of democracy, this place that is supposed to be an example for other countries' conduct, our citizens can't be bothered to cast their voices on what affects them; meanwhile, Iraqi citizens didn't ask for this, a large majority of them didn't want this. The candidates were so afraid of being killed, their names weren't released, and these people, despite all of these odds, turned out in record numbers to show that they weren't scared of what could happen, that they want to make their voices heard and make them count after so many years of being silenced and threatened and coerced.
I maintain that I don't agree with the reasons we went into Iraq, but I admire these people we know so little about for standing up and beginning to reassert control of their country, despite what they may think about the American occupation.
I feel sure that Bush will get a cramp in his arm patting himself on the back for what I'm sure he views as a personal victory, but I think this is more about the resilience of the human spirit than the triumph of a particular man's ideals forced upon a country. And we're not out of the woods yet. This is only the beginning of a long process for Iraq.
I think we could learn a thing or two about what it means to stand for something from them. And we could learn more than a thing or two about the sacrifices people make in the name of democracy.
Forty-four people died in attacks aimed at curtailing the vote.