Iraq Election Success: Large Turnout, Largely Peaceful

By all accounts the Iraqi election seems to have gone very well.  This election was huge as Iraqi voters went to the polls today to cast ballots in record numbers in a historic parliamentary election that the American people hope will build democracy, and a new ally in the Middle East.

Another successful vote

Turnout estimates were as high as 65% as heavy participation by Sunni Arabs, who had shunned balloting last January drove that number higher.

Largely peaceful

AP is reporting that a large blast near the heavily fortified Green Zone slightly injured two civilians and a U.S. Marine, the American military said. A civilian was killed when a mortar shell hit near a polling station in the northern city of Tal Afar, and a grenade killed a school guard near a voting site in Mosul.

A bomb also exploded in Ramadi, a mortar round struck about 200 yards from a polling place in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, and a bomb was defused at a voting site in Fallujah, despite promises by major insurgent groups not to attack such places. Some election sites in Ramadi were guarded by masked gunmen.

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The attacks did not appear to discourage Iraqis, some of whom turned out wrapped in their country's flag on a bright, sunny day, and afterward displayed a purple ink-stained index finger a mark to guard against multiple voting.

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Despite the doom and gloom from American Democrats yesterday in a sad press conference, this election is impossible to spin as anything but a success for both America and Iraq.

"I am proud as an Iraqi because our country is becoming a center of attraction for all Arab countries," said Mohammad Wadi, a 50-year-old Shiite schoolteacher casting his ballot in the capital's Karada district.

He added to the LA Times, "The new situation in Iraq, the democratic system, is starting to put pressure on the Arab systems to make some changes toward democracy."

There is still a very long road to travel, but one can only hope Mohammad Wadi's words are prophetic.

--News Analysis by Jim Roberts