I recently came across an old doom and gloom editorial at Anti-War.com by some guy named Juan Cole entitled, Iraq Elections a Disaster in the Making. That article was so wrong I thought I’d post a few notes about December’s elections for you:
Facts about the Iraqi elections on December 15, 2005 that you might be interested in:
10-11 million Iraqis voted
Sunni turnout was high
19 attacks on polling stations
79 terrorist attacks total during the elections
Iraqi security forces were the primary forces providing security
Contrast that with the January elections where many more polling stations were attacked and the overall number of attacks was much higher while voter turnout was much lower.
Progress is happening, whether people want to acknowledge it or not. Doom and gloom or optimism and hard work? You choose.
Note: When I first published this entry, I accidentally stated that Shiites turnout was high. It was, but what I meant was that Sunni turnout was high. That is significant because Sunnis have boycotted earlier elections and referendums in large numbers. That appears to have changed in the most recent election.