Voting in Iraq

I was discussing the upcoming election in Iraq with someone today, which led to the following thoughts:

• Have you considered how heroic the Iraqi workers are who will be delivering the voting machines and then collecting them after the election? What prime targets for those who don't want the election to go forward! No voting machines, no election; no election, no democracy. (The same applies to the U.S. forces who will undoubtedly be guarding the process, of course.)
• Those who come out to vote will of course be putting their lives on the line, as well.
• I was told, although I haven't confirmed it myself through any news sources, that many voters in Afghanistan dressed up in their best clothes to go to the polls, in honor and recognition of the importance of the event.
• Finally, I can't help but think of the similarities between the dangers faced by Iraqis voting for the first time and African-Americans voting in the U.S. for the first time. What most of us take for granted as the simple act of voting was initially a dangerous thing to do, especially in the South, but brave men and women risked the repercussions in order to claim the freedoms they and others had fought so hard for. And some of them paid dearly for it.

By the way, you DID vote in the last presidential election, didn't you? And the gubernatorial, mayoral, and school board elections, as well?

Good for you!