Today in Manhunting History -- January 30, 2005: The Iraqi Election

After Abu Musab al-Zarqawi  formally affiliated himself with al-Qa'ida in December 2004, he tried to undermine the event the Bush administration hoped would mark a turning point in the Coalition’s flailing counterinsurgency effort. In an internet audiotape posted a week before Iraq’s first free election in half-a-century, Zarqawi warned: “We have declared an all-out war on this evil principle of democracy and those who follow this wrong ideology.” Given his demonstrated ability to slaughter large numbers of Iraqis gathered in public places, his threat to fill the streets with blood – were taken seriously. Yet Zarqawi proved no more effective at preventing the elections than Sandino had been in Nicaragua 75 years earlier. Despite AQI’s threats and more than 100 armed attacks on polling stations on January 30, 2005, more than 8.4 million Iraqis voted to select a 275-member assembly and transitional government, with only 44 deaths on election day.

RARE PERSONAL INTERJECTION!!!  In January 2005, I worked on the Iraq desk in OSD-Policy, and spent the night of January 29-30 (8PM to 8AM) in the State Department's "Situation Room" as an observer/crisis responder .  Even those of us who were (perhaps naively) optimistic about the course of the war expected massive casualties that day, and were prepared to issue talking points as to why the (anticipated) hundreds, potentially thousands of casualties would not derail Iraqi democracy.  But an amazing thing happened as voting progressed throughout the night (roughly corresponding to 4AM-4PM Iraq time): the expected reports from the field of polling stations being bombed or Iraqi voters being gunned down in the street in mass atrocities never arrived.  Instead, the television screens were filled with images of multiple generations of Iraqi families walking miles to vote, or of purple-fingered tribal members dancing in joy.  Obviously, Iraq's troubles were far from over in January 2005, and much of the idealism of that day was lost amidst the increasing violence of the next two years.  But it is easy to forget the surprising success of that day, and the incredible courage of the Iraqi people.