Iraqi-American on the Elections

Interesting post on DailyKos.

My father was a freedom fighter in Iraq, a founder of several Assyrian pro-democracy groups, and was arrested and tortured; he was also the victim of an assassination attempt.

I write this to my fellow dKosers because I think it is important, in our observation of the war, to realize that many Iraqis did, in fact, support the war and continue to support the war effort.  Now, my father and I are both as Democrat-y as they come--I worked on Kerry's campaign, currently work in the Labor movement, and am otherwise active in progressive politics.

So it is important to understand that Iraqis support the war effort and do feel positively about the elections; however, as my and my father's comments on MSNBC make clear, that does not mean we think the Bush administration has handled the war correctly or that holding elections translates to success.  I think many Iraqis deplore the military situation over there--yet after 30+ years of Stalinist oppression, we were looking for anything to change the status quo.  Today is a day to be positive about what is going on there....

I agree. Also, I think there's something about people telling you "Don't do XYZ or we'll kill you," that, while it may scare you, may also make you react with a big, "SCREW YOU, I'm gonna do what I want and YOU'RE NOT GONNA STOP ME!" Ah, human nature... but in this case, perhaps it's a good thing. (And if it turns out voter turnout really was higher in Iraq than it was here, don't anyone get any ideas!)