An historic day

The polls are now closed across Iraq. The Constitutional Referendum has taken place, with lower than expected levels of violence across the country. The intense operations conduction by US and Iraqi forces in the last couple weeks had the intended effect, and the terrorists once again exhibited their weakness and were a nonfactor today.

The Washington Post reports:

Millions of voters in Iraq ignored the threat of attack and cast ballots Saturday in a constitutional referendum that was remarkably calm, with isolated insurgent attacks on polling stations and sporadic clashes with U.S. Marines west of Baghdad, but no major bombings or mass killings.
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Insurgents also attacked five of Baghdad's 1,200 polling stations with shootings and bombs, wounding seven voters, the Associated Press reported, and six Iraqi soldiers were killed in a bomb blast north of Baghdad and a mortar attack south of the capital, according to Reuters news service.

But the vote was surprising quiet compared to legislative elections in January, when at least 44 people were killed in nine separate attacks on polling centers.

This time, with a few exceptions, insurgent threats to kill voters did not materialize, allowing scores of people to vote on a proposed constitution that would increase the role of Islam in the government and formalize Iraq's democracy. Turnout was described as exceptionally high in Sunni Arab regions that had largely boycotted January's election.

Various photos and press releases at the Multi-National Force site. A couple of the press releases mention a couple of potential terrorist attacks on polling places were averted.

A Task Force Baghdad unit on patrol in south Baghdad Oct. 13 immediately responded to a terrorist mortar attack on a polling site by returning fire to drive the terrorists away.

The Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 108th Armor Regiment also provided medical care to two Iraqi civilians, including one child, who sustained minor injuries when the terrorist rounds detonated.
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Task Force Baghdad Soldiers detained 11 suspected terrorists at a checkpoint in Yusufiyah in the early afternoon of Oct. 15, heading off a potential attack on voters.

Here are some more photos from CentCom. Isn't it great to see those purple fingers again?

By Monday morning I'll have up the next Dispatch, this one will have my correspondent's thoughts on the meaning of this day, thoughts that were written this morning.

As a sidenote, as an example of the continuing success Coalition forces are having in Iraq, today CentCom issued this press release:

Acting on reliable intelligence and information provided by concerned citizens, Multi-National Forces captured two senior al Qaeda in Iraq terrorists during raids in Baghdad Sept. 24.

Captured were Walid Muhammad Farhan Juwar al Zubaydi (aka Firas), (aka Abu Ziyad), (aka “The Barber”); and Ibrahim Muhammad Subhi Khayri al Rihawi (aka Abu Khalil).

“The Barber’s” duties included altering senior al Qaeda in Iraq member’s appearances by dying hair color, altering hairstyles and changing facial hair in their efforts to evade capture.

Abu Khalil, a close associate of Abu Azzam, served as an executive assistant for the terrorist emir. He also acted as a banker for Azzam and stored the terrorist organizations funds so they would not be confiscated should Abu Azzam be killed or captured.

If you recall, Abu Azzam was killed early Sept. 25. The news, just released today, says Abu Azzam's close associates were captured the day before.

It's quite possible these associates were vigorously encouraged to talk, and they disclosed the location of Abu Azzam.

In any case, this news was not made public till now, some three weeks later, presumably because Coalition forces wanted to preserve the intelligence value of whatever these two terrorists knew. The fact the news is being released today suggests other action might have been taken place since Sept 24 as a result of the capture of these two terrorists.

Progress is being made. Today is a historic day. A people who were once under the heel of a murderous dictator are now free. There are no more rape rooms. Iraqis are no longer fed into woodchippers. They are no longer beaten or tortured. There are no more mass graves. There are no more attacks with chemical weapons. Today the Iraqi people are freely choosing their own government.

Would Hussein have left power if we simply asked politely? Would the terrorists have simply let this vote proceed peacefully if we had just asked politely. No, this day was paid for life by life, limb by limb. Evil devours, and it is the hallmark of this fallen world that it often costs dearly to stand in the way of evil. But that's just what our military has done these past two and a half years, and without them this day would never have taken place. The Iraqi people certainly know what gift the United States has given them, and they will never forget. They may eventually forget to express their gratitude, like France and Germany have done, but in their hearts, they will be eternally grateful.