Last hurrah

It’s election time again and we’re busy as ever. With our current schedule we’d usually been in for some severe burnout, but because we’re soon to be leaving, everyone remains in good spirits. At this point they could work me 23 hours a day and I’d do it with a smile because the clocks ticking and I’m almost out of here. Soon the gears of (quasi) democracy are going to have to clank along without us. We spent the last year trying our hand at nation-building and now it’s time to step aside and let someone else have a go.

I’m not really sure what to expect this election. During October’s constitutional referendum there were substantial losses both on the soldier and civilian side. During the weeks of Ramadan and the referendum our brigade lost seven soldiers. To put the enormity of that loss in perspective, the brigade that we replaced lost a total of seven soldiers during their entire year long deployment. It was also a difficult time for the general Iraqi population. During that same time period over 150 people were killed by suicide bombers; and that was just in one town a short distance away from us.

On the positive side, there was a high voter turnout for the referendum, a substantial improvement from the proceeding election last January. Sunni Muslims turned out in droves, the vast majority opposing the ratification of the new constitution. As the final votes were tallied we received word while out on patrol that the numbers at a local polling station were 4000 opposed and seven in favor. In my opinion, the passing of the constitution was less remarkable than the fact that so many Iraqis took part in the political process. I hope that the Sunni in our area (and across the country) will continue undeterred by their disappointment in the referendum’s outcome and will choose to take part in selecting the new leadership of Iraq.

From our end I just want to get through the next few weeks without injury or incident. We made it through the referendum unscathed (if you don’t count the one roadside bomb), and I am confident that we’ll get through this election without any problems. This will be our last hurrah before we leave Iraq and return home to our families. We are all taking this mission very seriously.