As Iraqis around the world participated in their first elections in half a century, one Iraqi Kurd studying at AU summed up what the first elections since Saddam Hussein's overthrow means to him.
"It will be written in history that a dictator was toppled and that a democracy was put in his place," said Rawand Darwesh, a 29-year-old working toward his master's in journalism.
For Darwesh, a native of the Kurdish city of Erbil, the elections signify the rebirth of Iraq after Hussein's rule.
The Day of the Vote
The atmosphere outside the polling station at the Ramada Inn in New Carrolton, Md., was a festive "moving stream" of people happy to get their first chance at representative government. Nonetheless, there were some drawbacks to casting a vote outside Iraq.
While Darwesh was happy to cast his ballot for national leaders, he was disappointed in the expatriate voting program in the United States. Although Iraq had thousands of polling places in a country roughly the size of Texas, the United States only had five major polling places and, as a result, reduced turnout, according to Darwesh.
When he arrived at the polling station, he was surprised to see fewer people on the day of voting than on the day of registration. The Iraq Out-of-Country Voting Program decided to separate both days and, as a result, many Iraqis felt they could not make the trip to polling stations twice and thus stayed home, according to Darwesh.
"I saw a family that traveled a long time to get to the hotel, but could not vote because they had not registered earlier."
Nonetheless, scenes of tears, jubilation, national colors, women ululating and families holding the Iraqi and Kurdish flags moved him and made him philosophical about the future of the country.
The Future of Iraq
On the eve of the election, Darwesh talked with his mother, a teacher and elections official, about the atmosphere in Erbil. His family voted and even took along their young children to participate in the historic day.
"My mother said, 'It's the day that [the Kurds] prove to the world that we do exist in Iraq and play an effective role in determining the future of Iraq,'" he said.
Kurds often felt the brunt of Saddam's rule and were the targets of the genocidal Anfal campaign in the late '80s, which some observers esti-mate took the lives of upward of 200,000 people. After the 1991 Gulf War, the United Nations helped establish a no-fly zone that protected the Kurds from Hussein's incursions.
Darwesh, who grew up in the safe area, believes that the Kurdish experience with democratic and consensual government will go a long way toward rebuilding Iraq. "This election was a good answer to those who sit in armchairs and say that we or the third world cannot have democracy or elections," he said. "The turnout was a blow to Abu Musaab al-Zarqawi and the terrorists. The elections speak for themselves."
Secularism and pluralism are two of the most important values that he wants to see in a democratic Iraq.
"In our 14 years [of autonomy], we learned about tolerance and this is something we need to help all Iraqis understand," he said. "This is the first time I voted. This if the first step towards a new Iraq, towards democracy and towards not being second-class citizens."
Darwesh predicts that whoever comes to power will have the example of Hussein and dictatorship as the wrong way of governance. He refers to the Iraq war as "liberation" and points out that when Saddam was toppled, few soldiers mounted a resistance because they "did not want to fight for a dictator."
"The Iraq war is the number one battle in the war on terror and if Iraq is democratic, it is a victory for the U.S.," he said. "If we succeed, then it is something that we will always remember until the Day of Judgment."
The War on Terrorism
Darwesh hopes that a democratic Iraq will set an example for the rest of the world and will help the U.S. craft a more consistent foreign policy that is directed toward the "streets" of nations rather than the rulers.
"When Powell or Rice travel around the world, they must not only sit with leaders in the Middle East, but talk to ordinary people in the Arab and Muslim street and open dialogue," he said. "Usually the people on the street don't agree with their rulers."
One of the most important things that a secretary of state can do is find common ground with a definition and understanding of terrorism, he said.
"U.S. foreign policy must be directed towards these people who disagree with the United States on who is a terrorist. The United States must change their minds and understand their cultures and their problems and why they resort to terror to achieve their goals."
Darwesh emphasized that while military incursions help kill terrorists, it is ultimately ideas that will stem their recruitment.
"There needs to be a universal definition of terrorism that people all over the world agree on. If, for example, the tribal people in western Pakistan agree that Osama bin Laden was a terrorist, then they would find him within hours," he said.
"The US should understand why they're protecting a terrorist. If they reach to the roots of why these people think this way, then you will reach good results."
Darwesh emphasized that there are many Muslims like him who are optimistic about the Iraqi elections and the U.S.
"I am a Muslim and I love the United States more than you know. I do believe that there are people in the Muslim world that believe in democracy and peace in the world."
Most of all, he stressed that if Iraq is a success story, then it will be a significant victory in the war of ideas.
"It is the responsibility of the U.S. to do this because no one else can do this. Not France, not China, not India. If you want to lead, then you have to sacrifice to make the world more democratic and free"
