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If I live to be an old man, and see the world and all its wonders, I doubt I will see a more vivid demonstration of courage and the love of freedom than the Iraqi people displayed on their Election Day, January 30th, 2005.
Frank Warner
Above the road from Abu Ghraib to Gazaliyah, a flying drone was beaming down video as security forces watched for signs of trouble on Election Day. The drone’s high-tech lenses spotted a few people walking down an otherwise empty street. But soon there were small groups, which became a moving stream. And all at once, as the flying eye recorded it, the road filled up with free Iraqis, thousands of them, marching 13 miles to vote in Gazaliyah.
As soon as I heard about this march to Gazaliyah, a song popped in my head.
Thirteen miles to liberty
I’ve got my wife, my brother, my mom.
We’re walking away from the hurt of Saddam.
We’ll cast our votes for a land that is free.
It’s thirteen miles to liberty.I’m a little nervous in the strange new air.
Who’s that moving over there?
It’s my neighbors. They’re joining me!
It’s thirteen miles to liberty.From Abu Ghraib to Gazaliyah
We’re marching away from the hate and the fear.
We’ll make our own democracy.
It’s thirteen miles to liberty.We’re thousands talking with our feet.
We’re talking up the Arab Street.
We’ve heard of freedom, but now we’ll see.
It’s thirteen miles to liberty.Thousands here and millions more
Are tired of chains and blood and war.
We’re almost where we want to be.
Just thirteen miles to liberty.The age of the monarch and the mullah is gone. Civilization is moving on.
But billions are left in tyranny.
They’re fourteen miles from liberty.Frank Warner
CNN’s Anderson Cooper:
“You know, you use the word ‘historic’ a lot; all of us have been over this last week or so. ‘Historic’ sounds almost dry. Yes, it was a historic day, but it was an emotional day, it was an extraordinary day, it was a remarkable day. And it was a privilege to be here to witness it. …
“There was so much fear, so much trepidation when people woke up this morning whether or not to step outside their door, whether or not to take those steps and walk down the street and make it to a polling stop. In neighborhood after neighborhood, block after block, that is what people did….
“[I]t was interesting, when you got to the polling place, there was a hush. It was totally quiet, except for the occasional sound of gunshots echoing in the streets or the sound of mortars landing in the distance.
“And yet, there was this sort of quiet resolve of people just standing in line silently. In the polling station where I spent about an hour, people waited about an hour on line, just slowly moving up the line, going through the various checkpoints, just grimly determined to cast their vote.
“And then a few people, as they left the polling station, breaking out in smiles. One woman was sort of shouting out to the crowd. The crowd applauded her as she was crying out with joy, saying that she hadn't slept the night before because she was so excited….
“And you look at old men who never in their entire lives have they voted. One man I spoke to, this was the first time in his life he had voted, and there was just this extraordinary sort of joy and surprise in his face.
“It was truly a remarkable, privileged day to be in Baghdad.”
Fox’s Heraldo Rivera:
"I was moved to tears twice. It was Berlin 1989. It was Philadelphia 1776. To actually see it, it was something I will never forget for the rest of my life."
See also: Iraq election posts.
Today President Bush said:
Today the people of Iraq have spoken to the world, and the world is hearing the voice of freedom from the center of the Middle East.
In great numbers, and under great risk, Iraqis have shown their commitment to democracy. By participating in free elections, the Iraqi people have firmly rejected the anti-democratic ideology of the terrorists. They have refused to be intimidated by thugs and assassins. And they have demonstrated the kind of courage that is always the foundation of self-government.
Tim Russert on "Meet the Press" today finally asked Sen. John Kerry the question no reporter dared to ask him during the 2004 presidential campaign: Despite your repeated claims that you spent your 1968 Christmas in Cambodia; did you spend that Christmas in Cambodia?
The answer: No.
In other words, Kerry finally is denying his Christmas in Cambodia story, which he wrote about in a letter to the Boston Herald in 1979, which he described so vividly on the Senate floor in 1986 and which The Washington Post says he talked about on at least seven other occasions as late as 2004. The incident Kerry said was "seared in me" never happened.
Today, Kerry told Russert he went five miles into Cambodia on another night, but not on that memorable Christmas.
"Meet the Press":
Kerry: "I jumbled the two [incidents] together, but we were five miles into Cambodia. We went up on a mission with CIA agents – I believe they were CIA agents – CIA Special Ops guys. I even have some photographs of it, and I can document it. And it has been documented."
Russert: "You’ll release those photographs?"
Kerry: "I think they were shown. I gave them to the campaign.… So, you know, the two were jumbled together, but we were on the Cambodian border on Christmas Eve, absolutely."
Russert: "Many people who’ve been criticizing you have said: Senator, if you would just do one thing and that is sign Form 180, which would allow historians and journalists complete access to all your military records…."
Kerry: "I’d be happy to put the records out…."
Russert: "Would you sign Form 180?"
Kerry: "But everything, Tim..."
Russert: "Would you sign Form 180?"
Kerry: "Yes, I will."
By the way, no one takes Kerry’s other Cambodia story seriously, either. No Cambodia crossing was mentioned in "Tour of Duty," Doug Brinkley’s Kerry-authorized book on Kerry’s 4 1/2 months in Vietnam.
Next question: Why did no news reporter ask Kerry any of these questions during the campaign? Was the press a little too busy recycling a 4-year-old story about President Bush not taking his 1972 flight physical for the National Guard?
Were they a little too busy broadcasting fake documents about the Republican to find time to demand some truth from the Democrat?
Frank Warner
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Some came on crutches, others walked for miles then struggled to read the ballot, but across Iraq, millions turned out to vote Sunday, defying insurgents who threatened a bloodbath.Suicide bombs and mortars killed at least 27 people, but voters still came out in force for the first multi-party poll in 50 years. In some places they cheered with joy at their first chance to cast a free vote, in others they shared chocolates.
Even in Falluja, the Sunni city west of Baghdad that was a militant stronghold until a U.S. assault in November, a steady stream of people turned out, confounding expectations. Lines of veiled women clutching their papers waited to vote.
CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, at about 12:45 p.m. New York time, was saying to Iraq election analysts, "Looks like the training of the Iraqi troops – at least on this one day – worked."
In Baghdad, Christiane Amanpour reported, "There were casualties, but in general, by far fewer than what the Iraqi people could have hoped for." She said one Iraqi woman told her she had been "reborn" by the election.
On Fox News, Democratic strategist Bob Beckel was saying, at about the same time, "It was magnificent - whoever was in charge of security in this whole thing deserves a medal."
Beckel also criticized former Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry for pooh-poohing the election’s success. "Whoever is advising him politically made a terrible mistake," Beckel said.
On "Meet the Press," Kerry had said, "It is hard to say that something is legitimate when whole portions of the country can’t vote and doesn’t vote."
I guess Kerry would have dismissed the re-election of Abraham Lincoln for the same reason. It’s obvious why Kerry lost.
Frank Warner
More than half way through the Iraq election today, 29 people have died in attacks on polling places. Eight suicide bombers have been reported.
Iraqis are voting at 5,300 polling stations. Many observers had predicted hundreds would die in the balloting for Iraq’s first democratic national assembly.
When an unexplained boom sounded near one Baghdad voting station, some women put their hands to their mouths and whispered prayers. Others continued walking calmly to the voting stations. Several shouted in unison: "We have no fear."
"Am I scared? Of course I’m not scared. This is my country," said 50-year-old Fathiya Mohammed, wearing a head-to-toe abaya.
There’s a new land of the free and home of the brave.
Frank Warner
Update: Later reports Jan. 30 say 44 people (including 9 suicide bombers, most of whom were not Iraqis) died in election day violence. Ten British troops - 9 airmen and 1 soldier - also were killed when their transport plane crashed north of Baghdad shortly after the polls closed.
The Iraq election is drawing millions of voters and relatively little violence, according to Richard Beaston, an editor for The Times of London.
At about 6:10 a.m. today New York time, with only a few hours left in the election, Beaston said, "I think it’s going better than expected."
Beaston was in Baghdad, and had just returned from Najaf, where, he said, "It was a very encouraging scene – very enthusiastic voters. It was unusually peaceful."
In Baghdad, he said, the Iraqis also saw something they hadn’t seen in years: Iraqi tanks. It appears Iraq’s democracy will have an army after all.
Frank Warner
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