UP TO TEN MILLION IRAQIS turned out to vote in Saturday’s referendum, protected by security that deterred all but a few ineffectual insurgent attacks. If the 10 million figure holds, the turnout may be higher than for the January election. Turnout was big in Samarra, Fallujah and other cities that heavily boycotted the January election and exceeded expectations in many parts of North Central Iraq. The initial vote reports suggest this too.
There were no suicide bombings or other major attacks — compared to the over 100 attacks in January. The DoD emphasized that Iraqi election officials and Iraqi security forces led the way. The Washington Post, reported from Balad that “the U.S. military remains an all-encompassing presence.” On Friday, the WaPo headlined Balad as a “swing city,” though the story described an insurgent stronghold (which it is.) In contrast, The New York Times reported that “the 150,000-member American force was much less evident, with perimeter security at the polling centers left mostly to the fast-growing Iraqi security forces. In many areas, the only sign of the American military occupation came from low-flying Apache attack helicopters circling over known areas of insurgent strength, and occasional patrols by armored Humvees…” The WaPo and NYT also had differing accounts of the voters’ mood.
The AP did its best to paint the referendum as bad news: “Iraq ‘s constitution seemed assured of passage Sunday despite strong opposition from Sunni Arabs, who turned out in surprisingly high numbers in an effort to stop it. The U.S. military announced that five American soldiers were killed by a bomb blast on referendum day.” The AP followed with “Sunnis Appear to Fall Short in Iraq Vote.” Sunday’s WaPo followed suit, declaring that the referendum was “less of a victory than yet another chance to possibly fashion a political solution that does not result in the bloody division of Iraq.” The story quotes University of Michigan Prof. Juan Cole as calling it an “enormous fiasco,” not mentioning that he talked out of both sides of his mouth on the January elections and on the invasion. Imho, a fair number of Sunni Arabs (the Kurds are largely Sunni also, not that the press would know) will see how they do in the December elections and whether they are able to get amendments to the constitution before deciding whether to abandon the political process. For now, Sunni Arab involvement in the process is good news, not bad news. Viewed in this context, political and military progress is being made, though I suspect Danish troops will keep their musical pillows.
