I haven’t found a lot of buzz on the web on this, but today is the day Iraqis get to vote.  According to the Washington Post, the provincial elections will be one of the tests of whether the Iraqis can build a stable democracy.  During the last election, the Sunnis did not vote because they felt they were not going to be treated fairly.  This time the Sunnis are running for office.  Hopefully the result of this will be shared power and lively, but peaceful debate.

According to the article:

 “In Fallujah, Anbar’s second largest city, women were arriving to polling stations to cast votes, unprecedented in a conservative tribal society where women are not allowed to mingle freely with men. Many wore customary veils; female volunteers searched the bodies of each woman for weapons and bombs. Female suicide bombers have committed numerous attacks in Iraq over the past year.

“I came to vote because I want to see women representing women of Fallujah and Anbar and to prove through my participation that women are here and will play an important role,” said Iman Karkaz, a college professor in Fallujah and women activist. “For sure this election will bring changes. The more women who take part in the election that more likely this change will happen.””

Thank you, George W. Bush and General David Petraeus for your wisdom and dedication to the cause or Iraqi freedom.