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OurBlook article on Iraq's Election Day 2010 by Randy DeCleene, senior advisor for international political and strategic communications to U.S. Major General Tony Cucolo
 The elections in Iraq on Sunday, March 7, 2010, were a remarkable triumph in their ongoing effort to establish a democratic government. In my role as a senior advisor to U.S. Major General Tony Cucolo, I am fortunate to have a front row seat to watch this burgeoning democracy and the view is more impressive than many Americans believe.
United States Division North (USD-N), perhaps the most ethnically diverse and potentially volatile portion of Iraq, provides a great snapshot of what happened across the country on Election Day. An area about the size of Georgia that is seven Iraqi provinces, USD-N is home to Sunni, Shia, Kurds, Turkomen and Christians, as well as other religious and ethnic minorities. USD-N includes the city of Mosul, the second largest in Iraq and known as a hub for Al Qaeda and other insurgent groups ... Diyala Province, a deadly area northeast of Baghdad for U.S. and coalition forces since 2003 ... and Kirkuk, a hotbed of political disagreement between Kurds and Arabs for decades.
Despite the above mentioned flashpoints in USD-N, there were zero deaths of local nationals and U.S. forces on Election Day, and the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) lost just one individual. Even more incredible, there were zero suicide car bombs or suicide vest attacks. This is quite the contrast when compared to the 2005 national elections. The absence of election related violence in 2010 was no accident. The ISF security plan enabled citizens to vote safely and this is truly one of the untold success stories when critically examining Election Day 2010 in Iraq.
The role of U.S. forces in Iraq is to train, advise, assist and provide help to the ISF (Iraqi Security Forces) when requested. As each day passes, Election Day included, the U.S. role becomes less and the Iraqi people are able to stand more firmly on their own two feet. March 7 was a striking example of how far the ISF, and in fact all of Iraq, has come in recent years. The areas of the country identified as the most dangerous were remarkably safe as millions of people voted.
The day before the elections, I had the opportunity to fly around Diyala Province with a U.S. brigadier general. Among our multiple stops was a visit to three security checkpoints consisting of combined forces from the ISF, U.S. and Kurdish region. The most striking part of the visits was the steely eyed focus the Iraqi officials had on their mission. Sunni and Shia Arabs, Kurdish Iraqis and others worked together despite the predictions otherwise from “experts” across the globe to ensure election related security for their people. The air was thick with anticipation of what the insurgents had planned the next day, but in the end, a strong will and desire for democracy carried the day over the violence, oppression, terror and fear offered by the enemy.
The photos of purple-fingered Iraqi citizens tell a story that carries the legacy of fallen American service members since 2003. It is a legacy of providing hope and helping to fulfill the dreams of an entire nation to put a history of violence and sectarian strife behind them in the belief of freedom and a better tomorrow.
24-hour news cycles and the rush to provide immediate analysis and opinion can blind Americans from the history developing before their eyes. While the road has been long and there will no doubt be bumps in the coming months as Iraq seats its government, make no mistake that the sacrifices the U.S. has made are bearing fruit. A free, democratic and strong Iraq is something all Americans should embrace and Election Day 2010 was another step toward the realization of this goal.
(Randy DeCleene is in Tikrit, Iraq, and serves as a senior advisor for international political and strategic communications to U.S. Major General Tony Cucolo, the commanding general of USD-N. He formerly was deputy press secretary for Vice President Dick Cheney and has written for OurBlook once before.)
(Editor's note: when Randy mentions "purple-fingered Iraqi citizens," he's referring to the stain put on the fingers after a person has voted ... a step to provide an open, honest election by making sure people vote only once.)
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