What They Own, They'll Defend

The eagerness of the Iraqi people to vote is deeply touching and a positive sign. Now that the Iraqis have a sense of ownership of their country, good things may happen:

1. Sunnis on the fence will have an excuse to move toward the government.
2. The foreign terrorists led by Zarqawi may find that they operate in a more hostile sea and will need to move on, as he apparently wrote last summer. Their boasts were not matched by actions.
3. Shias will gain confidence in their future and will be less vulnerable to accusations that they are collaborating with a foreign occupier. Why only Iraqi soldiers and police could be accused of killing fellow Iraqis when the insurgents carried out actual murders is beyond me, but that accusation was made. That idiot Sadr may find he has gotten much lonelier.
4. The Baathists themselves may be discouraged at their failure to disrupt the elections despite their very loud vows to make the streets flow with blood. In the end, the Baathists and their jihadi friends killed enough to remind the Iraqi people that the insurgents are bloody fiends but not enough to deter voters. When will the Baathists with access to the money decide that a wealthy retirement in Switzerland is better than a futile fight to return to power?
5. Neighbors will see that contrary to the past, American power is behind democracy and not stability. Freedom is possible.

Yes, a good day. Will the press report this better or worse than the praised 62% Palestinian turnout? When the polls were thrown open to anybody at all late in the day to boost low turnout? Will the press report this better or worse than the 100% turnout of Saddam's last election? When few reporters had the guts to call it a sham?

The Iraqis know that this is an important day:

"This proves that we are now free," said Akar Azad, 19, who came to the polls with his wife Serwin Suker and sister Bigat.

What the Iraqi people now own, they will defend even harder than they have been. Freedom was a long time coming and we helped a brave Iraqi people give birth to democracy. There will be a long period of infancy and adolesence before this democracy is mature. And the Iraqi people will find that they must prove they are free every day to maintain freedom. After all, lots of sham elections have taken place in that region. Yes, this was a free election but it cannot be a one-time event. Rule of law, accepting defeat at the polls, and respecting opponents must all be carried out by the Iraqi people. The first time a government loses an election and must hand over power the way we assume will be an even bigger day than today.

We may be proud of what we have heped start today. The Iraqis have taken the chance we gave them and proven they are free.