Disenfranchised voters

The next time somebody talks about voters being deprived of their vote because a black couple in Cincinnati thought someone might check their ID's, or voters in Cleveland were required to follow long-standing state law and vote in the precinct where they live, or people had to wait in line for twenty minutes, keep this photo in mind.

These Iraqis are lined up to vote in the constitutional referendum in the city of Mosul. Note the very long line. Note the barbed-wire barriers. Note that these people are waiting in this line knowing that there are terrorrists on the loose who are in fact willing, and hoping, to kill them for exercising their newly-acquired right to vote. Yet here they are, waiting to vote.

Voter turn-out appears to have been between 60-70%. Despite what the media wants you to believe, the election has not resulted in a clear Sunni-Shiite split destined to result in immediate civil war. In fact, two of the four largely Sunni provinces, by preliminary counts, voted for the Constitution by between 70-80%. That means overwhelming support from Sunni and Shiite voters alike.

I keep hearing people say "you can't give a country democracy" or "you can't impose democracy". Have these people never heard of Japan?

It begins, more and more, to look like the Iraqis "get it". There appears to be widespread and broad-based support for democracy.

What they'll do with it, and what will come of it all, remains to be seen. But for the time being, the Constitutional Refendum looks like a resounding success.