By Matt Thacker
Violence overshadowed Election Day in Iraq? No. Iraqis hid at home amidst fears of terrorism? That didn’t happen either. Surely we can agree that the election in Iraq was successful.
An estimated two-thirds of eligible voters went to the polls Jan. 30 and helped decide who they wanted to represent their country. While insurgents killed 45 waiting voters on a election day, a strong majority refused to be intimidated. I wonder how many Americans would have faced the threat of death or torture to vote in the November election. More realistically, I wonder how many Americans would have stood in rain for 30 minutes and faced the threat of ruining their hundred-dollar sneakers. Not two-thirds.
However, Bush-bashers and liberals would like you to think Sunday was nothing more than a false glimmer of hope. It’s sickening that many people out there actually hope Iraqi democracy will fail to prove once and for all that Americans have no right to impose their system of government on others. How inexcusably ethnocentric are we to believe all people want the right to choose their own government? If the Iraqis wanted freedom, they would have overthrown Saddam years ago.
Let’s not forget Americans were not always the “bully” superpowers we are today. Our early settlers wished to remain British citizens, seeking only representation in Parliament. However, Britain never gave that option. I’m glad Jacques Chirac wasn’t President of France in 1778. I can hear it now: “I really would like to help you Americans, but unless you can prove King George has weapons of mass destruction, there’s not much I can do.”
There’s no doubt the war in Iraq has been costly and mistakes have been made, but that is the reality of war. There was a time when the possibility of giving freedom to an oppressed people would have been enough motivation. A long road awaits the Iraqis and coalition forces. Leaders must reach out to Sunnis and make them a part of the government.
However, Americans should not be blamed for Sunni resistance. Sunnis controlled Iraq for years, despite constituting only one-fifth of the population. Whites in South Africa didn’t exactly relinquish their power without a fight, either.
Peace in the Middle East seems the unreachable goal, but the replacement of a tyrannical dictator with the possibility of a new start is a step in the right direction. Freedom is not a uniquely Western principle. All individuals strive towards freedom on some level, and as I watched footage of a nation finally able to grab onto that freedom I was proud to have leaders who work hard to preserve the idea which we hold sacred as Americans.
Matthew Thacker is a sophomore English major and a staff writer for The Louisville Cardinal. E-mail him at:mthacker@louisvillecardinal.com
