Election Day on the Euphrates
Democracy vs. Zarqawi.
by Bill Roggio
The Weekly Standard
12/26/2005, Volume 011, Issue 15
Barwana, Iraq
In the Sunni-dominated province of Anbar, the cities of Barwana, Haqlaniya, and Haditha are collectively known as the Triad. Over the summer, before the joint U.S. military and Iraqi forces established a security presence in the Triad, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al Qaeda's commander in Iraq, was said to have run up the black flag and declared the region an "Islamic Republic." Beheadings, hangings, and execution-style killings were routinely carried out against those who were believed to have cooperated with U.S. forces or the Iraqi government.
On Election Day last week, the atmosphere in the Triad was quite different. In the city of Barwana, with a population of approximately 20,000, voters showed up in droves. The process was more or less orderly, and no one was harassed for participating. I observed all this as an embed with Lima Company of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, the unit assigned to ensure the security of the city in conjunction with the Iraqi Army.
The polling site in Barwana was on the Euphrates River, between hills and a teeming palm grove, a welcome site in the land of deserts. The voting center was easy to secure as well as accessible to the residents. But there seemed to be a hidden meaning behind its placement. The voting center sat directly beneath the recently destroyed Barwana bridge, where Zarqawi terrorists had routinely executed residents. And the building itself used to be the headquarters of the local Baath party. If there was a message here, it was this: The old order is dead, and a new government has replaced the repressive regimes that once dominated the Triad and Iraq.
Turnout was heavy. During the referendum on the Constitution in October, about 2,300 total votes were cast in the city. Today, the polls opened at 7 a.m., and Iraqis immediately lined up to vote. By 8:30 a.m., the lines snaked up the street. At the end of the day, it was estimated that over 5,000 ballots had been cast.
The overwhelming majority of voters were men. Only 47 women came to the polls. They brought their small children and babies, and were covered from head to toe in the traditional black dress of the region, with only their faces exposed, bearing exotic tattoos. The children were colorfully dressed and smiling, curiously looking at the Iraqi soldiers and U.S. Marines.
The women were searched by female Marines brought in specially for the election. Several of the Iraqi women struck up friendly conversations with the Marines, and many photographs were taken with the women of both countries and the children of Iraq (see photograph on page 7).
The male residents of Barwana were subjected to several security searches, which were the exclusive responsibility of the Iraqi soldiers. The Iraqi unit was made up of a newly formed battalion, and the recruits were pretty green. Curious about the interaction of the soldiers and citizens, and potential conflicts between the Sunnis and Shiites or Kurds, I asked the Iraqi soldiers where they were from. The vast majority hailed from Shiite regions.
The Iraqi soldiers patted down voters and scanned them with hand-held metal detectors. I observed some good-natured ribbing between the voters and soldiers, with what appeared to be jokes about checking under the men's headdresses and the need to search a little more closely the bellies of some overweight voters. No Sunni-Shiite hatred surfaced in my presence.
By mid-morning, there was a rush of voters, which caused logistical problems inside the polling center. As a significant portion could not read or write, they required assistance with their ballots. The impression among some impatient voters and some of the military observers was that poll workers were not moving quickly enough. Heated disagreements broke out between the poll workers, city councilmen, and some voters. There was pushing, shoving, and shouting, and a press of bodies towards the entrance into the voting center.
An Iraqi soldier fired several rounds in the air in an attempt to deffuse the situation. It worked, but the gunfire came at a cost. A few voters angrily left the courtyard, and one of the council leaders attempted to barricade those remaining. Some voters in line outside the building fled for fear of violence, but the majority of those inside and outside the building remained, awaiting their turn.
Captain Shannon Neller, commander of Lima Company, ordered water, which belonged to the Marines and Iraqi troops, to be distributed to the Iraqis waiting to vote. As there were many older men and young children in line, and the day had grown warm under the late morning sun, the gesture was greatly appreciated. As Marines and Iraqi soldiers stepped through the razor wire and handed out bottles to the smiling and grateful crowd, good will was reestablished.
After lunch, the lines grew short as fewer voters headed to the center and, because of improvements inside the polling center, ballots were being cast more efficiently. At 5 p.m., the polls closed and the U.S. Marines and Iraqi troops began to break down the rings of security. There were no security incidents in Barwana, and very few in Iraq.
The Marines guarding the polling station felt a sense of accomplishment, and recognized the importance of the day's events. They were proud of their months of hard work and sacrifice during combat operations and subsequent rebuilding efforts, but they understood the future of Iraq lay with its people. There was a sense that they had witnessed history, a sense I shared.
Overall turnout was estimated at 67 percent, well above the 58 percent for the January elections. Voting in three large Sunni cities was high as well: Turnout was estimated at 70 percent in Falluja, 80 percent in Saddam's hometown of Tikrit, and 80 percent in war-torn Ramadi.
Barwana, once part of Zarqawi's self-declared "Islamic Republic of Iraq," was thus the scene of al Qaeda's greatest nightmare: Muslims exercising a constitutional right to choose their own destiny. The other Sunni towns and cities along the Euphrates River and in the Sunni Triangle have chosen as well.
Bill Roggio writes for ThreatsWatch.org.
Election Reflections
A look back on Election Day in Iraq, and a tragic attack in Barwana
By Bill Roggio
AL ASAD AIR BASE, IRAQ: My impressions from Election Day in Barwana are available at The Weekly Standard – Election Day on the Eurphrates - Democracy vs. Zarqawi. Many of the photos I took are available in a flash presentation of the voting from Husaybah, Sadah and Barwana.
There is one story from Election Day I failed to share in The Weekly Standard. My Election Day experience began on the night of the 14th, when I hopped a flight from Al Asad Air Base. I accompanied a portion of the ballots that were designated for Barwana on a Marine CH-46 helicopter. We landed atop Haditha Dam, a beautiful setting for a night landing.
The following morning at 4:00 AM, I accompanied a convoy from the dam to Barwana. The ballots were with us. I watched them being unloaded by the Iraqi poll workers into the voting center. After the day ended, we took a convoy back to Haditha Dam, again with the ballots, but this time they were no longer empty forms, but contained the will of a portion of the Iraqi people.
We waited on the top deck of the dam for the night flight back to the air base. The flights were delayed as there was a lightening storm across the lake, which along with high winds precluded the helos from landing. After a month in Iraq with dry clear skies, the lightening strikes in the distance were a sight to behold.
The weather cleared at 2:00 AM, and we loaded the ballots onto the helos, and took the short flight back to Asad. Once there, the ballots where unloaded and stored in a secure location. It was quite an experience to accompany the transformation of mere sheets of paper into a statement of self determination and will.
The elation of the long days of travel and witnessing history was punctured by events in Barwana late this morning. The place where I stood just hours ago, a place of joy and hope for the Iraqi people, became a scene of terror and sorrow. The polling center, which once was a Ba’ath Party headquarters and now has been converted into a school, was struck by three mortar rounds.
Four children and one Iraqi soldier died on the spot. The soldiers were cleaning up the site from yesterday’s crowds while the children were playing soccer in the schoolyard. Two other children were wounder and evacuated to the air base for medical treatment. One of the children died while being treated. “Insurgents” continue to have no compunctions against killing children in their quests to destroy the dreams of the Iraqi people. And the joy of the ballots – possessing the will of Barwana’s citizens – continue to stand against the perpetrators of such acts of evil. Thankfully they are also protected by Coalition forces and an indomitable will to vanquish Iraq of the cowardly terrorists.
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