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Millions of Iraqis went to the polls recently to
cast their ballots for a national legislature, or
Council of Representatives, that will select a
President, Prime Minister and cabinet to govern Iraq
for years to come. This marks the third time this
year that Iraqis have voted in the face of terrorist
threats. For Americans, this vote is a remarkable
demonstration of the courage of the Iraqi
people--reciprocating the bravery of our men and
women in uniform who fought to free Iraq from a
brutal dictator two and half years ago and now stand
with Iraqi Security Forces to quell continuing
insurgent violence. What draws our attention to
Election Day in Iraq, though, is something beyond
another extraordinary demonstration of the human
will to be free. It is the critical role this
election plays in the progression of events, each
bringing Iraq a step closer to self-determination,
and America a step closer to the completion of
Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The Iraqi elections of January, for the selection of
Constitution-drafters, and in October, for the
ratification of the draft Constitution, both enjoyed
high voter turnout levels–59 and 63 percent of
eligible voters respectively. Having determined
their own rules by democratic means, the Iraqi
people are now electing 275 representatives
apportioned among the country’s 18 regions, which
means it is a national election that takes into
account local and regional political forces. As a
result, I am hopeful that Iraq’s diverse ethnic and
sectarian demography is likely to be reflected in
the new legislature’s membership: Arab Sunnis
representing districts in Al Anbar or Salahadin
provinces, Shi’a representing central districts like
Babel or Najaf and Kurds representing northern
regions of Arbil, Suleymaniya and Dohuk. Large
cities like Baghdad, Basra and Mosul will have mixed
delegations, resembling their populations, and a
number of Iraqis–it is hoped–will look beyond their
own ethnic or sectarian allegiances to vote for an
entity they believe best represents national unity
for all. It will be a number of days before we know
the full results of today’s vote, but what we do
know now is this: in powerful terms, the Iraqis are
telling the world that they are ready for
self-determination.
Organizing three national elections in Iraq under
the current security conditions there is no small
accomplishment. For this most recent election, an
additional 20,000 U.S. men and women in uniform were
deployed to Iraq to help Iraqi Security Forces and
Iraqi officials with this particular mission. Iraqi
Police and Iraqi Security Forces have taken the lead
in efforts to secure over 9,000 polling stations on
Election Day, but they have been provided with
critical support from U.S. and Coalition forces.
The 152nd Maintenance Company of the Maine National
Guard is currently on deployment in Baghdad, and
during the January election, Maine’s 133rd
Engineering Company was deployed to Mosul. While the
Iraqis themselves are to be credited for their
democratic achievement today, men and women from our
State deserve our full thanks for their important
contributions to these historic events. When
terrorists attacked a mess tent in Mosul at this
time last year, Maine paid dearly through the loss
of two of our own–Thomas Dostie of Somerville and
Lynn Poulin of Freedom. Thousands of men and women
from Maine have, over the course of the last two and
a half years, put themselves in harm’s way so that
the Iraqi people could reach this day, and I
consider each of our citizen-soldiers to be
ambassadors of our nation in Maine’s finest
tradition. I am deeply proud of each of them.
For at least three reasons, I view this third
election as a watershed moment both for the Iraqis
and the nature of our involvement in Iraq. First,
and with substantial assistance from the United
States and other democracies around the world, the
Iraqis have traveled a path of public participation
and have now arrived at a point where the
responsibility for their own self-governance rests
more fully on their own shoulders. They must now
learn from their experience over the past eleven
months and move quickly to install a responsible
government capable of addressing the peoples’
immediate needs. A three month period of
negotiations and, frankly, drift such as that which
understandably followed their first election is no
longer acceptable. Second, the government which
their newly-elected Council of Representatives will
name needs to be representative of Iraq’s diverse
demography if the country is to avoid a
Balkanization, and potentially a civil war. This is
one reason I am pleased to have seen increased
participation among Sunni Arabs in this election,
and why I have urged the Administration to advocate
greater integration within the Iraqi security
forces. And thirdly, I will be looking towards this
permanent, Iraqi government to send us a sign about
what kind of relationship they wish to have with the
United States in the future. On a number of levels,
I view 2006 as a year of substantial transition in
Iraq.
In response to calls from the Senate to share more
of his plans for Iraq with the American people,
President Bush has delivered four national addresses
in the past few weeks elaborating on his vision for
Iraq’s development in the realms of politics,
security and the management of its economy. Last
month, I supported a Senate resolution that called
on 2006 to be the year that the Iraqi government and
Iraqi Security Forces take the predominant share of
the responsibility not only for military operations,
but also for the other aspects of taking ownership
of their destiny. With this week’s election, the
Iraqi people have demonstrated that they are capable
of moving towards self-determination. As Americans,
we are entitled to a clearer understanding of when
we have fulfilled our obligations to the Iraqi
people and completed our mission there and when our
brave soldiers may return home.
While I will, together with my colleagues in the
Senate, continue to press for a clearer picture of
the blueprint for direct American involvement in
Iraq and continued updates from the President on his
plan for progress there, the events surrounding this
week’s election give me cause for some guarded
optimism. If the embrace of democracy by millions
of Iraqis this week is any indication, we may look
forward to positive changes in the coming year.
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