By all accounts, Election Day 2005 in Iraq was a success. The predicted mass coordinated attacks never transpired and although 44 people died in homicide bombings around the country, the death toll was far less than expected. An estimated 60% of eligible voters turned out to vote, mostly in Shi’ite and Kurdish provinces, but higher than expected Sunni numbers were counted as well. Even the French are praising the election day results.

Here is one Sunni Iraqi who voted and is proud of it:

Today I can walk tall, I can say I am Iraqi with a proud not only because I voted but also I fought against terrorist with my voting ballot

I stepped out the car, the voting center was on the other side of the street, young Iraqi teenagers were there giving every Iraqi a candle and saying this is Iraq.

But this is just the beginning, my friends. As I noted in my previous entry, there is alot of adversity to overcome. Many of those voted into power are unknowns to the Iraqi population. This is part of the process. I imagine James Monroe was an unknown to the new citizens of the United States in 1791. The results, although unknown in detail, are widely presumed to favor the Shi’ite majority. What role the Sunni minority will play is still unknown but one can assume that there will be a prominent Sunni placed in a position of power in the effort to maintain a spirit of unity. IF the population has not voted in a Sunni, it can be assumed the majority will give the Sunnis a place at the table of Iraqi politics.

But that is also a fairly large jump in logic. For many years, the Shi’ites have suffered at the hands of a tyrranical Sunni majority (Most of Saddam’s Ba’athists were Sunni). With power now in their hands, what (if any) will the repercussions of history be?

Will the coalition of groups be able to forge a Constitution that carries legitimacy? Will the Zarqawians take defeat from the election, or will they step up efforts to delegitimize and terrorize the population?

One thing can be certain. yesterdays anti-climatic result is a huge victory for the Iraqi Defense Force who spearheaded most of the security provisions at polling locations. Marines assisted but the IDF was the main face on security.

There still remains huge obstacles to overcome. The first major one has been cleared. The next is an expected October ratification of a new Constitution with Constitutional elections being held in December.

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