The Gravity of The Moment
Regardless of the cause of our being in Iraq, we must not lose sight of one simple fact. Tomorrow Iraqis throughout their country will participate in an activity so rare that fewer than 10% of people who have ever lived on the face of this earth throughout all history have had the chance to do so. Indeed, voting in a true and fair democratic election has scarcely ever occurred in the Middle East.
In October of this year, 60% of the eligible Iraqi voters turned out to exercise their rights, despite threats of violence and reprisal. Even Sunnis, who largely boycotted the January elections, turned out in droves in places like Fallujah, formerly a stronghold of the terrorists. Recognizing that liberty is the hope for their future, they renounced violence and voted. They were forced to walk in some places many miles. They were threatened, attacked, and some were even killed. And yet they voted.
We here in America face no such obstacles. We have easy access to polling locations. We have absentee ballots. We have shuttle services to drive us right to the very door of the voting booth. And yet only 52% of eligible voters bothered to turn out in 2004. It is a safe bet that much of the anti-Iraqi freedom crowd did not.
In his 1961 Inaugural Address, President Kennedy said, “let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, and oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.” What has happened to that resolve? What has compelled the far left to abandon the noble principle of spreading freedom and democracy to all corners of the world? Why have we forgotten the lessons of history? In this century alone France, Poland, Germany, Korea, Russia, the Balkans, Afghanistan, and now Iraq are free. Free to choose their own leaders. Free to choose their own destiny. Free to vote. Freedoms secured for them by the blood of Americans and protected by their own blood for their posterity.
Tomorrow, stand in solidarity with the Iraqis on this momentous and solemn occasion, but do not do so by purple ink. That is their right. That is their personal connection to Iraq, their national identity. Do not take this from them. We have much to learn about freedom from the world’s newest democracy. We have not earned the right to color our fingers purple.
In October of this year, 60% of the eligible Iraqi voters turned out to exercise their rights, despite threats of violence and reprisal. Even Sunnis, who largely boycotted the January elections, turned out in droves in places like Fallujah, formerly a stronghold of the terrorists. Recognizing that liberty is the hope for their future, they renounced violence and voted. They were forced to walk in some places many miles. They were threatened, attacked, and some were even killed. And yet they voted.
We here in America face no such obstacles. We have easy access to polling locations. We have absentee ballots. We have shuttle services to drive us right to the very door of the voting booth. And yet only 52% of eligible voters bothered to turn out in 2004. It is a safe bet that much of the anti-Iraqi freedom crowd did not.
In his 1961 Inaugural Address, President Kennedy said, “let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, and oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.” What has happened to that resolve? What has compelled the far left to abandon the noble principle of spreading freedom and democracy to all corners of the world? Why have we forgotten the lessons of history? In this century alone France, Poland, Germany, Korea, Russia, the Balkans, Afghanistan, and now Iraq are free. Free to choose their own leaders. Free to choose their own destiny. Free to vote. Freedoms secured for them by the blood of Americans and protected by their own blood for their posterity.
Tomorrow, stand in solidarity with the Iraqis on this momentous and solemn occasion, but do not do so by purple ink. That is their right. That is their personal connection to Iraq, their national identity. Do not take this from them. We have much to learn about freedom from the world’s newest democracy. We have not earned the right to color our fingers purple.
posted by exsubdriver at 11:57 AM
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